MEDIA CONTACT:
Andy Larsen
Boelter + Lincoln PR
414/840-0891
alarsen@boelterlincoln.com
WAUSAU, Wis. (May 14, 2010) – Beginning next week, many of central and northern Wisconsin’s most prestigious hospitals will be making a change in their naming structure and introducing a new advertising message. Ministry Health Care today announced that it will unify the names of its hospitals, clinics and other operating units by placing “Ministry” at the front of the existing names. The new naming structure will be featured prominently as part of a multimedia advertising campaign scheduled to break May 17.
“The new ads and name change really reflect the work we have been doing for several years,” said Ministry Health Care CEO Nick Desien. “Both recognize our commitment to putting patients first and meeting their health care needs in a highly integrated and seamless system of care.”
The new ad campaign features the tagline “knowing you better, means treating you better.” Created by Boelter + Lincoln of Milwaukee, it uses real Ministry patients and their caregivers, including doctors, nurses and therapists. Its ads feature the strong relationships that exist between patients and their caregivers. The ads will begin running on local television, radio and in regional newspapers during the week of May 17. Outdoor ads can be seen starting the week of May 24 with interactive components to follow in late May or early June.
Beginning later in the month external signage will change at facilities across the Ministry system. The new naming nomenclature becomes effective immediately, and media is requested to refer to individual system facilities beginning with the “Ministry” identification. For example, Saint Joseph’s Hospital will now be Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital; Saint Clare’s Hospital will now be Ministry Saint Clare’s Hospital; and so on. The one exception in the region will be Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff, which will retain its existing name in recognition of the contributions of Howard Young to build the facility.
“When a patient enters the Ministry system, they are not simply being treated by health professionals at one hospital or clinic; they are ultimately being cared for by a system of doctors, nurses and specialists,” noted Desien. “We want our patients and communities to recognize us as that. Our goal is for this system to be seamless – every employee, at every facility, is working to keep the patient first, no matter where the patient is receiving care.”
Keeping patients first is the every day goal for the over 9,000 employees at Ministry Health Care wholly owned operations. Founded over 120 years ago by the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother to meet the health care needs of communities in the region, Ministry now operates 12 hospitals and 21 clinics in communities throughout central and northern Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Ministry Health Care is also a joint sponsor of Affinity Health System in the Fox Valley with Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare and sponsors Flambeau Hospital in Park Falls with Marshfield Clinic.
The system provides primary and specialty medical services, as well as hospital, home health care, hospice, long-term care and dialysis services.
Ministry’s mission as a Catholic health care system is to further the healing ministry of Jesus by continually improving the health and well-being of all people, especially the poor, in the communities it serves.
Click here to see the campaign: http://www.ministryhealth.org/knowingyoubetter
