Crisis Communication

Effective crisis communication provides accurate, useful information while protecting the organization’s reputation, calming fears and controlling rumors after an incident. I am the hospital’s Public Information Officer, and I am certified in the National Incident Command System through FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute.

Certifications & training

FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute

  • ICS-100, ICS-200 for Healthcare/Hospitals

  • IS-00700.a, National Incident Management System (NIMS)

  • IS-002000.HCa, Applying ICS to Healthcare Organizations

  • IS-00702.a, NIMS Public Information Systems

  • G290, Public Information Officer Course

 

Hospital response to Coronavirus

The spread of the novel coronavirus is a unique challenge for hospitals. Without good, accurate information, local transmission can overwhelm a hospital’s resources, not only in treating people sick from the virus and other disease, but in managing a high number of scared community members who report to the Emergency Room demanding to be tested.

In March 2020, we didn’t yet know what we were facing, but we recognized growing concern in the community that needed to be addressed. I worked Wyoming Medical Center’s medical director of infection control, Mark Dowell, MD, to begin an education campaign that began with an informational blog post (PDF) on March 5 and continues to this day. The main objectives are to protect hospital resources, instruct people to call for medical advise before reporting to our ER or a local clinic, slow community transmission, dispel rumors and build confidence in community public health leaders. Below are some highlights.

  • What to Expect When Visiting Wyoming Medical Center: When we resumed surgeries and elective procedures, we needed to show people that it was safe to come back to the hospital. I wrote the messaging and script for the above video and coordinated filming with the hospital experts and our advertising agency.

  • March 11, 2020, Press conference: As media inquiries increased and a public frenzy began to bubble, I organized a joint press conference with Dr. Dowell, Wyoming Medical Center and the Casper-Natrona County Health Department. I summarized the conference’s key points to disseminate the information to a wider audience. Top-line message summary | PDF

  • Dedicated webpage: I created a page on our website dedicated to our response to COVID-19. It is updated whenever necessary and easily shared on or social channels, through digital newsletters, through email campaigns, etc. | PDF

  • Daily press briefings: As hospital Public Information Officer, I was a presenting member of the Joint Information Center (JIC) for the county-wide Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Information officers from all participating agencies — including local schools, police and fire departments, city and county governments and more — provided daily press briefings to local media and live video streams to keep the public informed about public health orders, hospital and clinic closures, mask mandates and more.

  • Community appeal for PPE: WMC was woefully short of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic, like hospitals across the country. Working with local seamstresses, I organized a community effort for hand-sewn masks and isolation gowns to help protect our nurses and doctors. The effort resulted in 2,100 cloth masks, 100 isolation gowns and 250 surgical masks donated by the seamstresses. | PDF

  • ‘It’s about being a good neighbor’: Mask interview with Andy Dunn, M.D. | PDF

  • ‘Our commitment to patients and families in resuming surgeries’: Blog post | PDF

Active shooter

At about 1 a.m. March 4, 2019, a young man walked into Wyoming Medical Center and fired several shots at a housekeeper and a doctor before police detained him. No one was injured, but the incident unnerved staff, patients and the community. How could it happen to us?

As PIO, I immediately started working with the hospital’s Emergency Management Committee, security team and administrators to develop a communication plan that would answer questions while assuring employees, physicians, the media and the community that safety was our top priority.

Below is a round-up of the communications distributed in the hours, days and weeks following the incident:

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  • 9 a.m., March 4 – First internal communication sent to staff, physicians and volunteers to address safety concerns, offer counseling services, invite staff to listening forums and control rumors. PDF

  • By 10 a.m. – Organized a joint press conference with Wyoming Medical Center security manager and Casper Police Department, alerting all local and regional media outlets. Presser PDF

  • Throughout the day – Crafted external messages for social media and newsletters while responding to multiple press inquires.

  • By 5 p.m. –Sent another internal update on the immediate safety updates being made after feedback during the employee forums. More than two dozen updates sent in the hours, days and weeks following the incident. Internal messages selection PDF

  • On April 2, 2019, Connected the state’s largest newspaper, The Casper Star-Tribune, with hospital leadership for a sweeping discussion on hospital security. Read the story here. PDF

Reduction in force

In 2016, Wyoming Medical Center leadership eliminated 58 hospital positions to help meet growing financial challenges.

Below is the communication plan for the announcement day. Plan objectives were to announce the reduction, calm employee fears, control rumors and protect the hospital’s reputation. We did this by being upfront and open with employees, giving media a chance to ask questions and assuring patients and families that care would not be affected.

Communication Plan Timeline Re: WMC Staff Changes, June 7, 2016

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