New Resources to Spotlight and Reinforce the Crucial Role of Hospitals in Serving Their Communities

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As we enter the third year of the pandemic, hospitals, health systems and their teams continue to serve on the front lines battling COVID-19 while also providing many services and programs to promote health and wellness within their communities. Despite the countless challenges they have faced, the dedication and passion to patient care has never been stronger. Our hospital teams have remained steadfast in their commitment to provide care and improve health.

The AHA has been privileged to hold conversations with caregivers across the country about their experiences during the pandemic. It is important that their voices are heard and AHA is honored to spotlight and share their powerful stories through a series videos as part of our #WeAreHealthcare effort.

Hospitals and health care workers have stood strong for their communities during the pandemic, and we want to continue to honor their significant impact, while also reinforcing the vital role that hospitals and health systems serve in our society every day.

As part of our Seizing the Conversation initiative to balance the public narrative through a visible and consistent drumbeat of examples that illustrate the crucial role hospitals play in their communities, the AHA calls on all hospitals and health systems to amplify our collective voice in better telling the hospital story.

With hospitals and health systems serving every corner of this nation, we urge you to raise your voice and share the “stories behind the hospital H” – the impact that extends well beyond inpatient care. Share examples of the programs you support and lead, the initiatives and events you host, and the many ways in which you advance the health and wellbeing of your patients and community.

AHA will continue to spotlight member organizations and will use the following framework to help organize our efforts. We ask you to join us and take action by sharing your story.

• Benefits to Your Community. America’s hospitals are meeting the health needs of their communities in many ways. Highlight the benefits you provide to the community. Spotlight charity care, health education programs, housing and healthy food programs, health screenings and transportation for patients who need a medical appointment, among other things.
• Improving Access to Care. Hospitals across America help people get health coverage and ensure access to essential services. Highlight the actions your organization is taking to ensure care is there for patients.
• Ongoing COVID-19 Care and Vaccination Efforts. Hospitals and health systems cared for millions of COVID-19 patients and led efforts to vaccinate their communities. Spotlight how your organization cares for your community and provides life-saving vaccines.
• Improving Health and Wellness. Hospitals and health systems are a vital part of their communities and the services they provide extend well beyond just curing injury or illness. Highlight the many ways your hospital is advancing the health of your community, helping people get and stay healthy year round.
• Research and Innovation that Benefits Patients. From using telehealth to improve access to care to using artificial intelligence to keep communities healthy and detect disease earlier, hospitals and health systems are using innovation to improve patient care. Spotlight your efforts that result in benefit to patients.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

Gather examples and tell your story

Use the framework above to organize your story-telling. Identify examples, photos, videos and other testimonials that spotlight the wide array of work in which your team members have been engaged to provide care for patients and advance health in your community.

Share your stories with AHA

AHA wants to help elevate the impactful work you do in your community. Please consider submitting examples of the many ways you benefit your community via www.aha.org/roleofhospitals.

Share your pandemic experiences

Listen to your team members, and give them an opportunity and platform to share their experiences during the pandemic. AHA would love to partner with you and spotlight testimonials of your amazing caregivers through our #WeAreHealthcare initiative.

Identify a hospital ambassador

AHA is working with a group of hospital and health system ambassadors to tell the hospital story through op-eds, audio news releases and other AHA-supported media opportunities. Sign up and join us in this effort.

Deploy your social media channels

Tag the AHA, @ahahospitals, and use the hashtag #myhospital so we can send a collective message about the work you do on behalf of patients and communities. Hospitals and health systems can help tell their story by sharing messages on social media using new graphics and other resources from a new digital toolkit.

FURTHER QUESTIONS

For questions, please contact Alicia Mitchell, AHA’s senior vice president of communications, at amitchell@aha.org, or Emily Gustafson, AHA’s vice president of digital strategy and public education, at egustafson@aha.org.