January 2013 – HealthCetera

Back in the late 1970s I worked in an abortion clinic that was fire-bombed by an anti-choice zealot. I wasn’t scheduled to work that day. I arrived at the scene immediately after a co-worker telephoned me with the news.

Clinic staff stood together on the sidewalk watching the firefighters put out the blaze numb but determined we’d fight back. No one was killed. Staff acted swiftly to get everyone out of the building. Most of the injuries suffered were invisible.

We quickly moved clinic operations to a location about 30 miles away. This was inconvenient and disruptive to the staff and people we served. There was limited complaining and a lot of collective action to make this work. Women counted on us.

Since then there has been an organized campaign by anti-choice extremists resulting in physicians and clinic workers being murdered; more abortion clinics bombed, burned down, invaded, and blockaded; and patients persistently being harassed and intimidated.

Ever wonder how the people who work in abortion clinics in our country are dealing with the violence and threat of violence in their lives on a day-to-day basis?

Health, HealthCetera, Policy

Whither Employer-paid Health Insurance?

January 28, 2013

author: Diana J. Mason

3 Comments

Where is corporate responsibility these days? I know it’s in the toilet, but I’m stunned by yet another example that is drastically affecting one state–North Dakota, where the prospects of hydrofracking and other oil exploration and production have dramatically increased the number of uninsured workers in the state.

Today’s New York Times includes an article about the impact of this oil boom in North Dakota on its health care system. Transient oil workers do dangerous work that too often results in an emergency room visit. Indeed, journalist John Eligon reports that ER visits increased by 400% last year alone at McKenzie County Hospital.

Emergency rooms cannot turn people away, so hospitals have to absorb the cost of uninsured care with the hope that it will be relieved by public funds designated for uncompensated care. Eligon cites McKenzie County Hospital’s debt load as an example of the impact of uninsured care on the state’s health care system. That hospital’s debt has increased 2000% over the past four years.

Health, Media Engagement

Seven Must Haves to Launch an Effective Social Media Health Campaign

January 25, 2013

author: Editorial Staff

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This is a guest post by Linda Kamateh who is a recent graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse Executive Master’s in Communications Management Program and a Senior Media Associate at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

I just completed my graduate studies at Syracuse University’s Newhouse Executive Master’s in Communications Management Program. I’ve spent the last year reading lengthy research studies and interviewing health care public relations professionals for my capstone on this topic. From this extensive research, I’ve compiled a list of the Seven Must Haves to launch a social media health campaign.

Engagement with your audience is key and I discovered that while most of the communicators I spoke with use social media to post materials they are unclear or unable to use these mediums to engage with their audiences. The unique benefit of using social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook is audience engagement.

Below are seven concepts that health care communicators should consider when developing social media campaigns or integrating social media into an existing mass media outreach effort to maximize engagement.

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Do you wear a bullet-proof vest to work everyday? Well, some abortion clinic workers do.

Whither Employer-paid Health Insurance?

Seven Must Haves to Launch an Effective Social Media Health Campaign

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