By Jason Snyder
I was recently reminded just how important it is for organizations that want to be perceived as good corporate citizens and community partners to have a well thought out plan to communicate to their stakeholders in bad and potentially good times.
News that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) was closing its Braddock hospital brought negative reaction from leaders of the small municipality located on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, as well as from county and state elected officials, employees and the Braddock community.
People were asking how UPMC — a world-renowned leader in health care, an economic engine for Western Pennsylvania and an institution that has on many occasions been so generous to its hometown — could close up shop and with it many of the hopes that this distressed, former steel town could make an economic recovery. That answer to me is pretty simple: only about half of the 123 licensed beds were filled and four out of five Braddock residents were using other hospitals. UPMC bought the hospital in 1996, but over the last seven years it lost $27 million.
What’s most striking to me as a public relations practitioner is the way UPMC blindsided Braddock with the announcement. It seems no forewarning was given to any of the hospital’s stakeholders. The announcement was made to their dismay. No meetings with elected officials, hospital employees or the community took place before the announcement.
To maintain a good reputation as a community partner, engaging stakeholders with the right information at the right time is the right thing to do. Even with the decision made, well-planned, separate pre-announcement meetings with politicians and community leaders, hospital employees and the community to explain the situation, concede that it’s a difficult decision, talk about the things are being done to soften the blow and solicit input for how all the groups might work together going forward would have been prudent. In UPMC’s case, there were positive things to discuss, among them the fact that most of the 652 employees will be offered other jobs and UPMC Braddock’s comprehensive behavioral health/drug and alcohol detox and rehabilitation program will continue.
Even when they have good news, organizations that fail to communicate appropriately can be harshly punished in the court of public opinion. I worked for such an organization several years ago. When the community and local leaders found out after the fact that the organization had already taken steps toward a multi-million dollar expansion without what those groups considered appropriate input, there was hell to pay. There were many low points during the years-long battle between the groups, but one of the most difficult to endure was a series of public meetings – again, after the fact. The meetings were more like a public execution. The bruises to the relationship this organization had with its constituents took quite some time to heal.
Even the best corporate citizen can’t always make business decisions that will sit well with every constituent. But one decision organizations can’t afford to make is the one where they fail to communicate in a timely, forthcoming manner. Taking the time to develop a sound communications strategy can go a long way in keeping companies and organizations in their publics’ good graces, even in bad times.
Jason Snyder is Vice President of WordWrite Communications.
