Blog relaunch accelerates when nearby hospital closes

Jefferson Health already had a blog, @Jeff, but plans were in the works to relaunch the site as a content marketing hub that could support multimedia elements with minimal branding. The team’s goal in reintroducing the blog was to build regional and national brand awareness through compelling content without the filter of, or interpretation by, the news media—pretty much the goal of any brand journalism effort (along with sharing content the media wouldn’t cover).

Discussions on the framework for The Health Nexus changed abruptly with the news of the closure of nearby Hahnemann University Hospital, which posed a public health crisis in Philadelphia. The site that was launched to respond to the closure has won first place in the “Content Marketing and Brand Journalism” category of the PR Daily Awards, Health Care PR and Marketing division.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital administration and staff immediately focused on preparing for the influx of patients while the communications team anticipated local press would fixate on the closure. Jefferson accelerated the launch of TheHealthNexus.org in order to shift that narrative and share—directly to consumers—human interest stories about the impact of the closure and how Jefferson was stepping up for its community.

The site launched with 35 stories in key sections: Healthy You, Patient Perspectives, From the Experts, Research & Innovation and Special Reports. Accelerating the launch of TheHealthNexus.org during a time of intense media and public attention to the Hahnemann closure proved to be a crucial part of its early success.

Six of the top 11 highest-performing articles on The Health Nexus focus on Hahnemann. The three podcast episodes on the closure also performed well.

Congratulations to John Brand, Barbara Henderson, Brandon Lausch, Jessica Lopez, Carly Williams, Gianna DeMedio and Carter Knight.