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News

Strategic Thinking in a Tactical Environment-How to Live the Comms Dream when Faced with the Comms Reality
February 2023
By Kennedy Soileau, Chief Communications Officer at Washington State Health Care Authority
We often find ourselves working at a pace that requires us to be both tactical and strategic. It can be challenging to balance these two aspects of our work, but there are strategies to stay focused on the big picture while still delivering on the day-to-day needs of the organization. Here are some tips for strategic thinking in a tactical environment. Read ‘Strategic Thinking in a Tactical Environment’ here.

Looking Ahead: What We Know – and Don’t Know – About 2023
January 2023
By Alan Shoebridge, Assoc. Vice President for National Communication at Providence & HCNW At-Large Director
For the last three years, almost every article looking ahead to the new year offered some type of prediction that healthcare would return to what it looked like prior to the pandemic. Nobody is saying that about 2023. Disruption on many levels is here to stay.
What does that mean for the new year? It’s likely that healthcare communicators will again be dealing with periods of opportunity and chaos. Just like the last three years, we will be tasked with helping organizations move through that uncertainty toward the future. Read on about what we know – and don’t know – about 2023 and what communicators can do to be successful.

Insights into Crisis Communications Post-pandemic
August 12, 2022
By Kelly Bantle, Principal at Allegiant Strategies NW and HCNW President
Thrust into an unprecedented pandemic of global scale in our modern time, crisis became a day-in and day-out reality dragging on for years. Within healthcare, the impacts are near countless and immensely profound, affecting operations, staffing, and service delivery, coupled with the health and wellbeing of our patients and communities. The far-reaching disruption and impacts of the pandemic did, however, illuminate many new mindsets and better practices, including around crisis communications. [Read more]

Internal Communications Through A Pandemic: Advancing New Pathways for Greater Engagement and Purpose
June 3, 2022
By Kelsey Huwaldt, Assoc. Dir. of Internal Communications at OHSU & 2022 HCNW At-Large Director
We have all heard: communications should start with your employees. They are your brand ambassadors, your champions, your frontlines. We all believed it and wanted to build strategy that way. But, in 2020, it became more true than ever before.
The guidance and regulations around COVID were changing daily, if not more, as we learned more about this virus. The public looked to health care employees through these frantic moments, and getting employees information, and quickly, became more important than ever. [Read more]