Client: Montefiore Medical Center (New York)
Client: Montefiore Medical Center (New York)
PR Team: Dan Klores Associates (New York)
Campaign: The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore/
Phase I
Time Frame: December 1997 to July 1999
Budget: Approximately dollars 100,000
When some people think of the Bronx, they have visions of burned-out
buildings from 20 years ago. Montefiore Medical Center has to overcome
that perception.
The center has been serving the Bronx for more than 100 years. But to
raise money for a 106-bed children’s hospital to be opened in 2001, it
must appeal to parents from more affluent areas.
’You have to overcome certain preconceived notions about the Bronx being
a tough neighborhood,’ says Sean Cassidy, a partner at PR firm Dan
Klores Associates.
Strategy
The agency designed a campaign to keep Montefiore’s name frequently in
the media during fundraising efforts.
The campaign was aimed at potential donors in nearby Manhattan and
Westchester County. At the same time, the hospital needed to appeal to
the neighborhood it has traditionally served as well as secure political
support for the venture.
Tactics
Since Dan Klores represents other hospitals, it maintains close
relationships with local and national health reporters. The agency’s
initial goal was to raise the number of news stories about the
Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, then to place feature stories in
local and national publications. Prior to a July groundbreaking
ceremony, the agency issued media advisories and press releases.
Throughout the campaign, a primary goal was to present the president of
the children’s hospital, Dr. Irwin Redlener, a former Clinton
administration official, as a leading children’s care voice.
Montefiore’s National Child Health Caravan, which included two mobile
medical units, was critically important in garnering national attention,
Cassidy says. It left from the set of the Today show to drive across 13
states and Washington, DC, where Vice President Gore made an appearance
with Redlener. Gore also took part in the groundbreaking ceremony.
Results
More than 100 articles on Redlener and the hospital have run in print or
electronic publications. The New York Times ran 10 stories, including
two on children’s health data supplied exclusively to the paper.
Print and broadcast media have included interviews with Montefiore
medical experts. Stories aired on local radio and television as well as
on national morning TV programs. On the fundraising front - as of
October - the hospital was halfway to its goal of raising dollars 120
million.
Future
As the campaign enters its second phase, Dan Klores Associates wants to
keep Montefiore’s name in the press until the children’s hospital opens.
A primary challenge over the next two years, Cassidy says, will be to
maintain Redlener’s national presence, especially as healthcare issues
receive heightened attention during the 2000 elections.
