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January 2007

January 01, 2007 

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
It was exciting to see more than 50 public relations healthcare professionals pack the Embassy Suites in Tigard on Friday, November 3 at our annual Fall Conference. The fast-paced conference began at 8:30 am and featured a lineup of seven outstanding speakers including: Andy Davidson, president and CEO of Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (OAHHS), with a talk titled, "Is the State of the State a House of Cards?"; Bill Barr, executive vice president, Health Care Operations, The Regence Group, discussed consumer-driven healthcare; Pat McCormick of Conkling Fiskum and McCormick, Inc., talked about Word of Mouth Marketing; Tracy Duryee and Tonia Farman of Locus Interactive spoke about blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds and more; Patti Atkins, Regence Group, talked about "Managing Changes and Challenges in the Healthcare Field"; and Marilyn Hawkins, president of Hawkins and Company, PR, explained what every healthcare provider needs to know about labor relations communications. 
 
Unfortunately, two of our speakers were unable to attend. Larry Wheeler, Vice President of Communications for Kaiser Permanente Northwest, had a scheduling conflict. He was to discuss the development and new approach of the Kaiser's "Thrive" program. Mara Woloshin had to attend a funeral out of town, but Patti Atkins from the Regence Group was gracious enough to take her place.
 
I want to thank those of you who shared your fantastic success stories and communications tips and to congratulate Cristie Lynch of Samaritan Health Plans for winning an iPod in the drawing. I'm sorry that we didn't have a chance to read them out loud, but they will be listed on our website. I also I want to thank attendees for bringing their wonderful projects and promotional items to share with others.  They were a big hit!
 
Here's what some of you had to say in the evaluations:
"All the speakers were engaging . Good breadth of content . This was fun and educational . I had the opportunity to meet some great people too! ... Good food and snacks all day . The speakers seemed rushed . The chairs were too hard . Didn't like the food . Missed the nugget tip exchange . Too difficult to travel to Portland more than once a year . Need more networking time!"
 
We are listening to your suggestions and will concentrate on improving future HCO events.
 
Board Positions Available    HCO ballots have been sent to you. Please be sure to fill them out and fax them back to me at 503-848-0257. We have board positions open so please consider volunteering your time to help keep our organization running for the benefit of all. We can only do it with your help. Feel free to call me at 503-848-3640 or email me(belaf@earthlink.net) with any questions about board positions or committees.  You can also find board descriptions on our website(www.healthcarecommunicatorsoforegon.org).
 
It has been a privilege to serve as your president this year and I will continue to help the HCO meet the needs of its membership. Wishing you all a joyful holiday season!
 
Bela Friedman
HCO President 2006

 

 MEMBER OF THE MONTH: Ken Cole
Organization: Southwest Washington Medical Center, Vancouver, Washington
Role: Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Health Care Connection: Southwest is Clark County's and Southwest Washington's leading provider of acute care hospital services, including trauma services, a full array of Heart and Vascular treatments and interventions, cancer services, joint and spine care, women's and children's services, stroke care and rehabilitation and much more.
Background: Eight years in hospital and heath care communications and 13 years of TV journalism including a five year stint at KATU in Portland.
Biggest Health Care Communications Challenge:  Communicating effectively to a very large and diverse work group internally and pro-actively to our external audiences.
Greatest Professional Passion: Knowing there's no better business to work in and that my work makes a real difference in people's lives.
Most Recent Read:  Hardwiring Excellence by Quint Studer
 
 
JOB OPENINGS
A great opportunity for a Corporate Director of Media Relations with a well-respected non-profit, financially strong, 4-regional hospital health system. The organization employs over 7000 people and has been awarded "Best Employer", and named a "Top 100 Most Wired Hospital" several times. The following is a link to information about the Corporate Director of Media Relations opportunity:
http://www.synergyorg.com/hot_job_18.html
 
Growing and successful East Oregon community seeks Director of Public Relations and Marketing.  Need someone to help keep the community hospital moving forward.  Position is the public relations officer for Good Shepherd Medical Center, reporting to the CEO. Pro-actively manages media stories, creates quarterly magazine for service area homes, coordinates advertising and works with service line managers to market those lines. Creates weekly newsletter for staff. Works with Board committee to improve community relations. Requires bachelor's degree and experience in field. Application deadline: January 31. Contact VP, Human Resources, Kelly Sanders at (541) 667-3413 or ksanders@gshealth.org.
 
 
BE FEATURED IN THE NEWSLETTER!
Do you have news for HCO members? Do you have ideas for member of the month or the organizational profile? Would you like to post a job opening? Has your company done something newsworthy recently? Contact Hannah Clegg at clegghe@ah.org to submit your information to the HCO newsletter.
 
 
Healthcare Communicators of Oregon


HCO is affiliated with the American Hospital Association through the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.