JOMC 232 – Public Relations Writing Margrethe Williams

Fall 2013 Dr. Lois Boynton

December 3, 2013

1. Reflections on service 2. Time log 3. Communication audit

a. Audit b. Backgrounder c. SWOT analysis d. Recommendations

4. PHS speech 5. A strategic vision of PHS on LinkedIn

Working with Piedmont Health Services taught me teamwork and patience. In

academia, we are often absorbed in the almost solitary nature of our own work. Working

with a real client required us as students to realize that we are not the priority. Not only

were we forced to work together as a class, but we were delegated tasks according to

the needs of the communications director.

The most valuable part of the project was the amount of feedback available from

various parties. Suddenly our work was more than something between professor and

the student; we presented our work to the class and Debra Markley at PHS. A real

challenge I encountered was the surprising amount of red tape. Though I’m sure at

larger institutions, there is much more, the difference between internal and external

deadline was immense. It was apparent that our work would need to be reviewed and

edited and approved before it could be put in front of actual PHS clients.

I don’t think there was an invaluable part of this class. I was introduced to a

variety of public relations tools that I could apply to the client – or any future client of

mine in the future. After touring the PHS office and meeting some clients of theirs, I

have much fewer recommendations than before. I am impressed with the scale of the

organization, and the only room for improvement I witnessed was with donors. The

center brings in millions of dollars each year between federal and state grants, and

individual donations. However, with more donation money, management would be able

to bolster the staff and facilities. My recommendation for communicating with donors is

to increase the frequency with which current communication is used, as well as making

strategic connections via LinkedIn and other social media to make targeted asks.

Date Activity Hours

9/10 Research 3

9/11 Research 3

9/18 Research 2

9/19 E-FAQ 3

10/10 PHS visit 3

10/23 LinkedIn proposal 1

10/29 Revision 2

10/30 LinkedIn update to turn in 3

11/12 Revision 3

11/13 LinkedIn update to turn in 2

11/14 Speechwriting 3

12/2 Portfolio work 5

Total 33

Overall, the web site is strong, and needs improvement in only a few areas. One

of those areas is Spanish-language information. Other areas that the organization can

improve its internal and external communication are donor relations.

The outreach to donors is virtually non-existent online, and on paper, donation

requests are unattractive and outdated. Overall, the website does an excellent job

storytelling about PHS patients and attracting patients to the health center. The quilt

motif – while it has little to do with the center or its brand image – is comforting and

should be incorporated in other aspects of the organization.

There are a few significant disconnects. Ninety-nine percent of the staff is

bilingual and the center is labeled with signs in various languages – yet it depends on its

website and Facebook page to disseminate a few key pieces of information – and it

does so strictly in English.

Another important suggestion is that the center provide information for its

patients and, for that matter, serve as a source for information for the community with

the implementation of the new healthcare law. All company communication should

provide some avenue for those that have questions about how their healthcare or

healthcare coverage will change with the Affordable Care Act.

If the center can embody its role as a “healthcare home” – a cozy yet uniform and

effective organization – its success will only continue to grow.

Backgrounder

Piedmont Health Services began in 1970 as a single community health center to

provide primary care to the community of Prospect Hill, N.C. The center treated non-

emergencies to decrease the number of uninsured patients in the hospital emergency

room, and provided care to those that could not afford private doctor visits.

That one community center grew into what is now a group of seven health

centers that provide comprehensive health services including pharmacy, dental and

medical care to each of their communities. In 2012, Piedmont Health Services served

over 40,000 patients. The private nonprofit is dedicated to the sustained improvement of

its services and its mission to serve North Carolina communities. In 2013, the seventh

center was opened at Sylvan Community Center in Snow Camp, N.C.

Piedmont relies completely on donations. Last year, its donations totaled more

than $1 million in state and federal grant funding, adding another year to the trend of

increased fundraising. The company is a part of the State Employee Donation

Campaign and relies on that as a source of income along with its own series of events

and donation campaigns.

The organization employs close 85 full-time staff members and maintains a team

of volunteers. Communication with its publics is primarily carried out through brochures

and fliers in-office and in partner offices, along with daily Facebook posts and monthly

newsletter blasts. The centers offer a number of special programs, including WIC for

women and children and PACE, and all-inclusive health program for seniors.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis for: Piedmont Health Services Company Communication

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Piedmont health

services listed

first when

Googled.

Easy to find

donation portal

Variety of

organization

systems for ease

of search (by Dr.,

by location, etc.).

Organization of

headings –

variety of specific

headings makes

for pages that

are not filled to

the brim with

text.

Attractive site

keeps the viewer

interested.

It’s possible to

find out how to

make an

appointment, but

could be easier.

Lots of text mars

the process

rather than a

colored button

like the donation

process.

Translation

services – but

when you click

the Español tab,

it doesn’t

translate the site

but instead

brings the reader

to a separate

web page.

Search function

should search

titles before text

– when the word

appointment is

searched, at the

bottom of the

Large Hispanic

population in the

area - There is the

opportunity to

appeal to Hispanic

patients better –

already they offer

translation

services – the

website should

communicate that

better.

The donation

page has the

opportunity to be

more emotionally

engaging – right

now it only has

text but could

include photos,

too.

Opportunity exists

to make avenues

more direct by

dividing the site’s

audience into

categories

(patient,

Uncertainty of federal

funding with the imminent

implementation of

Obamacare.

Competition -

Piedmonthealthservices.org

is the title of an unrelated

site.

Threat of losing a donation

or a client due to lack of

direction (there is no phone

number on the homepage).

Photos of

management

team make the

org. relatable.

Social media

links easily

accessible for

feedback.

Language

choices –

“Welcome

Home,” etc.

brands the site

as a place of

comfort.

results page is

the process for

making an appt –

after articles that

mention the

word.

Inconsistency –

header and

footer titles lead

to same places

with different

titles.

Too much info.

on homepage

employee, etc.).

Recommendations

This year is a year to focus on providing healthcare to everyone. With the dawn

of the affordable care act, the message this year is one of universal healthcare – amid

the uncertainty of the law – Piedmont Health Services doesn’t turn anyone away.

Through a variety of programs, Piedmont supports this mission. For example, the

center’s sliding pay scale allows families at all income levels to afford treatment,

multiple locations and bilingual care providers are also facets of this mission, making it

easy for families that live in remote corners of the state from remote corners of the world

to access the same quality care that is available for everyone else.

The message this year should be a spread not only in its patient recruiting efforts

but also in its donation requests. The stress should be on continuing the quality care of

the center – a “healthcare home” for communities in the triangle and expanding the care

to everyone regardless of access to insurance, employment, or anything else.

In regards to contacting donors, I suggest an increased boldness online. The

outreach to distinct audiences should be as distinct online as it is in print; therefore

different platforms or pages will appeal to repeat patients versus new patients versus

potential donors. I recommend the creation of a LinkedIn company page to attract

benefactors outside the normal fundraising radius. In addition, Facebook posts should

be modified to be more appropriate for patients in both content and language.

The Piedmont Health Services website is diverse and caters to a variety of

stakeholder groups: prospective patients, benefactors, employees, and community

members. While the design and choice of language are effective in branding the site as

a safe haven, I would recommend organizing the site by group. At this point, there is too

much information on the homepage and the tabs could be confusing for a casual user.

The best course of action is to simplify the homepage: ask the visitor what group they

belong to – patient, community member (potential benefactor), or employee – and go

from there, tailoring the process to each one to better direct them to where they need

[and where PHS would like for them] to go.

Margrethe Williams

Piedmont Health Services

299 Lloyd St

Carrboro, NC 27510

Nov 20, 2013

SPEECH TEXT

Make Room for Piedmont Health in Your Budget

Brian Toomey, Speaker

Healthcare is controversial these days.

But it’s hard to argue with the fact that we’re

all human, we all get sick – and we all need a

place to go to when that happens. For 40

thousand North Carolinians last year – Piedmont

Health was that place.

I’m Brian Toomey, and I direct Piedmont

Health Services. We’re a nonprofit providing

dental, pharmaceutical and general medical care

to North Carolina communities.

-MORE-

PHS Ask/Page 2

We don’t turn anyone away, and we focus on

preventive healthcare. We eliminate unnecessary

emergency room visits and create stronger,

healthier communities.

Catherine Poole Watson was one of the

first employees in our Prospect Hill center.

She worked with Betty Compton, Doctor Glen

Pickard and Doctor Greenberg, who established

our first center as one of the highest quality.

After 37 years of dedicated service, Catherine

retired in 2009.

Five generations of the Poole family

receive services in Prospect Hill Community

Health Center. The family continues to visit

the center. They say they couldn’t imagine

going anywhere else for their check-ups; they

say “it feels like home.”

-MORE-

PHS Ask/Page 3

Back then there was only one center, but

now we have eight. We serve people at all

income levels, from all over the world - and we

provide jobs to 85 employees like you. More

than 90 percent of our staff is bilingual.

Piedmont survives completely on donations.

That means that your contribution goes to

medical equipment, finding and keeping quality

physicians and everything in between.

To continue offering our programs, we need

your tax-deductible donation. One hundred

percent of your gift will go back to your

community to educate, employ and heal your

neighbors and friends.

So I’m asking you to make room in your

budget this winter for Piedmont Health. The S-

E-C-C number is 1873 and your gift will change

more lives than your own. Thank you.

##

Questions:

1. How much of PHS’s income is from individual

donations, and how much is from grants or other

sources?

It varies each year. Last year, we raised just over 1

million dollars of state and federal funding. A large

part of our income is from individual donations, and

the extent of services we provide is contingent upon

the donations we receive.

2. How do you treat patients without insurance?

Piedmont doesn’t turn anyone away. That being said,

we ask patients to pay what they can for services. We

have a partnership with the state Chamber of Commerce

to provide discounts to its employees without

insurance.

3. Do you plan to open any more centers?

That depends on need. Right now, we plan to focus on

making sure all of our centers – especially our new

Sylvan center in Snow Camp – are serving as many

patients as they can.

A Strategic Vision of

on

_____________________________________________________________________________________

LinkedIn has over 225 million users. The median income of the site’s users is

$139,000, according to The PR Styleguide (2013) by Barbara Diggs-Brown. In addition

to their professional identity, users express involvement in side projects, passion for

causes and interest in nonprofits. The development of a company profile page on the

site will enhance Piedmont Health Service’s online brand and leverage its existing

network of employees, board members, donors - and the network of each of those

hundreds of individuals.

The page is broken into sections, with only those that have been completed on display.

My suggestion for the company is completion of all functions of the page before launch.

With the launch of the company page, an incentive to sign up and link to the company’s

page will be provided for all employees and board members. While the purpose of the

site is predominantly to create, categorize and retrieve information, I recommend using

the update function to link to online articles published by the PHS newsletter as well as

all relevant articles referenced on other social media platforms. Using this strategy,

upkeep of the profile will be simple and effective. This can be done through a social

media updating service such as TweetDeck.

To build a network of prospective donors, regular posts will contribute to the promotion

of the page and encouragement of opinion leaders to follow news from the site. New

printed materials should be updated to include the LinkedIn logo, to highlight PHS’s

presence on the platform.

After reaching a threshold of followers to be decided on by the communication decision-

maker, an online discussion group will be created with relevant topics to discuss new

projects and specific organizational needs.

Sample Company Profile on LinkedIn

Piedmont Health Services is a community health nonprofit based out of Carrboro, NC. The organization operates seven community health centers in Carrboro, Burlington, Moncure, Prospect Hill, Scott, Siler City and Snow Camp, NC. At Piedmont Health, we’re rooted in our community. We are determined to deliver quality health care to everyone with compassion, devotion and clinical sophistication; because we all deserve the benefits of a healthier life. From an infant getting her first well-baby checkup to a teenager getting a wisdom tooth pulled to a grandpa needing help managing his diabetes – welcome to Piedmont Health.

Services offered include dental, pharmaceutical and general medical care at reduced prices. Anyone is welcome to visit the centers.

Specialties Industry Type Medical Services, Dental Care, Pharmacy, Hospital & Health Care Nonprofit Nutrition Counseling, Disease Management, Health Support Website Company Size Heaquarters http://www.piedmonthealth.org 51-200 employees 301 Lloyd St

Carrboro, NC 27510

Piedmont Health

About Piedmont Health

How to Set up a Company Page

1. Sign in to LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) or create an account 2. Hover over “Interests” the last subheading on the top left of the page 3. Click on “Companies” 4. Click on the blue text “Add a Company” at the top right of the page 5. Enter company name and official e-mail address, then hit continue 6. Enter information about company as provided in this document