Success Story

Butler Health System
The Guardian monthly newspaper

Situation Assessment
In 2006, Butler Health System was deep into planning for expansion of the health system, including construction of a new hospital. However, a small, yet vocal and powerful group of Butler community residents opposed the plan. The group included the publisher of the local newspaper, the Butler Eagle. Coverage of the hospital reflected the publisher’s opposition. Further, good stories about the care and innovative services provided by BHS were not covered.

The distortion of the health system’s story created the perception that the community did not support new construction plans. The situation eroded the hospital’s credibility, including that of the CEO. Years of planning for a much-needed expansion were seriously threatened.

Need
BHS needed a credible voice to tell its great, untold stories. It needed a proactive communication vehicle to inform the community of the facts of the planned expansion. The health system also needed a means to quickly react to negative stories.

BHS engaged WordWrite Communications for this project because of its journalistic experience and deep public relations and issues management expertise.

Audiences
BHS mailed The Guardian monthly to 43,000 addresses. The majority of the circulation is in north central Butler County, which is the health system’s immediate target market. BHS also mailed The Guardian to key stakeholders outside that region, including business leaders and government officials.

Goals and Objectives
The BHS goal was to create a credible source of information for the community. BHS wanted to positively influence the community’s opinion regarding expansion and construction of a new hospital. BHS leadership also sought to discredit those who negatively portrayed the project and health system leadership and to preserve its own reputation.

After being accused of disregarding public opinion and working behind closed doors, BHS wanted The Guardian to convey a sense of transparency. Instead of a publication that communicated to the community, BHS leadership wanted a newspaper that encouraged two-way dialogue with and feedback from the community.

Project Description
To achieve the credibility it sought, BHS wanted The Guardian to match the look and tone of a newspaper. WordWrite Communications used its experienced staff of former journalists to create such a publication. Featuring independent voices and an unbiased writing style, The Guardian delivered a resource where the community could get facts about the expansion.

The Guardian covered the health system’s financial performance, the changing face of health care, emerging technologies that a new hospital could accommodate and quality and performance initiatives under way at the hospital. WordWrite researched stories, including conducting interviews with health system employees and resources outside the health system.

WordWrite also wrote opinion pieces for The Guardian. These provided a balance to the news and feature coverage, giving BHS leadership the freedom to express their opinions.

Recurring features highlighting board members and doctors helped put a face on the health system and strengthen its connection with the community.

WordWrite made the Guardian a "turn key" effort for BHS, conceptualizing the design of The Guardian and managing the entire production process, content development (including artwork), layout and design (including advertising), and printing.

Results
WordWrite Communications delivered a soup-to-nuts process that streamlined production of the publication. Following a monthly production schedule, each issue covered newsworthy stories that were not covered by the local newspaper. At times, these stories received subsequent coverage in other independent media.

Community awareness of The Guardian is high, as evidenced by steadily increasing advertising sales and anecdotal information gathered from health system leadership.

Even after BHS began to execute its expansion plan and the public opposition diminished, it continued telling its story to the community through The Guardian.