Memorial Hermann has been recognized by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) with several national and local awards, including the prestigious 2017 Bronze Anvil Award, the Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation, and two Excalibur Awards, all recognizing outstanding communications work.
The Bronze Anvil awards annually honor superior achievements in communications, branding and public relations across the country. For more than 45 years, the Bronze Anvil Awards have celebrated the “best of the best” in public relations tactics — the individual items or components that contribute to the success of an overall program or campaign.
On the local front, Excalibur awards pay tribute to the most outstanding accomplishments in the development and execution of comprehensive public relations programs and individual tactics.
“We are deeply honored to receive these awards from the nation’s largest professional organization serving the communications industry,” said Alex Loessin, Vice President of Communications for Memorial Hermann. “As our system’s storytellers, we love to share the incredible work our affiliated physicians and staff perform every day. It’s even more gratifying when those stories help to educate the public about health care services that can positively impact the lives of those we serve.”
Memorial Hermann was honored for a feature story called “The Ultimate Gift,” which was part of a broader campaign by the hospital to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation, as well as the System’s 2015 Annual Report, which was designed to convey the strong spirit of innovation and leadership Memorial Hermann has long embodied. Additionally, a celebratory campaign surrounding the 40th anniversary of Houston’s beloved Memorial Hermann Life Flight® also was recognized.
The Ultimate Gift feature story, which was awarded the 2017 Bronze Anvil Award, centered around a true story between a gravely ill man who had waited three years for a life-saving heart transplant and a grieving mother who found solace knowing her deceased son’s heart gave another person a second chance in life. The story laid the foundation for a campus-wide campaign that helped generate awareness about the critical shortage of organs due to the lack of registered organ donors. As part of The Ultimate Gift campaign, the hospital hosted a successful registration drive that helped boost the number of registered organ donors in Texas.
Memorial Hermann also received the Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation and a Bronze Excalibur Award for its 2015 Annual Report, which was created by Memorial Hermann’s internal communications team. After putting the Annual Report on hiatus for the past decade, the team started from scratch to bring the report back to life with new storytelling elements. The report aimed to highlight Memorial Hermann’s achievements across the System of more than 25,000 employees, 5,500 affiliated physicians and more than 250 care delivery sites. In addition to financial achievements in 2015, the team highlighted other quality attributes in the report and featured short stories of patients and their experiences. This shows that Memorial Hermann not only stands by its motto “Together, We Advance Health” but also the system never loses sight of the most important element of health care – the people.
The Life Flight anniversary campaign, “40 Years of Service, 40 Days of Thanks,” was also awarded a Bronze Excalibur Award. The celebration utilized traditional and social media and an array of events to create excitement over a 40-day period. The campaign also honored the lifesaving service’s late founder, Dr. James H. “Red” Duke, along with local EMS partners and first responders. Using the social media hashtag #LifeFlight40, the campaign paid tribute to former patients and the community, while the Memorial Hermann Foundation encouraged philanthropic support by way of $40 donations. The end result was a fundraising boost for Life Flight, which relies on community support and fundraising efforts to pay for the service.
The PRSA awards are the latest accolades for Memorial Hermann, which has been honored with a number of recognitions for its excellence in delivering healthcare. Recently, it ranked fourth among Forbes’ annual list of America’s Best Employers.