Media Campaigns and Communications Tools 

Media campaigns, public service announcements, and social media toolkits have recognized front-line health care workers and hospitals’ essential contributions during the pandemic — and supported hospitals with public health messages to reach out to their own communities and local decision makers:

• Economic impact of the pandemic on hospitals: At a time when hospital operating margins were down 139%, emergency department visits were down 50%, and it was determined that hospitals would lose $10 billion in 2020, this campaign urged public support for long-term state and federal funding to assist hospitals.

• Resuming medical care: CHA’s Care Can’t Wait campaign features a social media toolkit, public service announcement — and more— that includes ready-to-use posts and graphics for hospitals to reassure the public that hospitals are safe and that delaying care can be dangerous.
  Similarly, Hospital Association of Southern California developed a Don’t Delay Care social media toolkit to assist hospitals and health systems, including their communication teams, in responding to patients’ concerns about seeking care in emergency departments during the pandemic.

• COVID-19 Preventative Measures: A full set of communications tools to help hospitals and health care systems, providers, public health professionals, health departments, and community organizations reach different communities with COVID-19 prevention messaging when safer-at-home orders began to loosen.

• Fight Flu Together: A pre-emptive consumer-focused campaign to urge vaccination well before flu season.