CommunicatingAfter a Disaster

Joplin Tornado Case Study:

About Mercy• 8TH largest Catholic health system in U.S.• Home office in St. Louis; hospital, physician

offices and other services in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma; outreach ministries in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi

• 28 acute care hospitals• 38,000 co-workers• 1,500 Mercy Clinic physicians

Mercy MarCom• Moved to centralized structure in spring 2010• 92 co-workers across four states• Local marketing/communications teams

supported by functional/consolidated teams representing:• Newsmaking• Business Development• Creative Services• Digital• Mercy Experience (voice of the customer research)

Mercy in Joplin• One of our newest communities• Joined Mercy in November 2009, transferring from

Catholic Health Initiatives of Denver• Good fit culturally – originally established by the

Sisters of Mercy• Good fit strategically – surrounded by existing

Mercy communities in SW Missouri, SE Kansas and NW Arkansas

May 21, 2011

367 beds

2,800 co-workers

and physicians

40-year-oldcampus

The DisasterDate: Sunday, May 22, 2011

Time: 5:41 p.m.

Impact: 6½ miles long, ¾ mile wide band of destruction

Hospital patients: 183 inpatients;

25 emergency department patients

Co-workers: 276 working at the hospital

May 22, 2011

May 23, 2011

Photo courtesy Kansas City Star

Joplin Recovery

Joplin Recovery

Photo courtesy: AP/Tulsa World - Adam Wisneski

Joplin Recovery

Joplin Recovery

Memorial Hall

Joplin Recovery

Memorial Hall

Joplin Recovery

Memorial Hall

Crisis Communications Timeline

SUNDAY NIGHT

• Word spreads across Mercy – phone calls, text messages, e-mails

• Temporary command center established in Springfield

• Executive, operational and communications/media leaders and staff both on-the-ground and by phone, text, e-mail devise initial plan

Springfield War

Room

MONDAY: Joplin• Early morning – Four members of Springfield

communications/media team arrive in Joplin to support three-member team in Joplin– Key task: manage media on the ground at

hospital site, Memorial Hall and other locations– Secondary: manage incoming media calls– Ongoing: Coordinating with team in St. Louis

and other Mercy locations (twice daily – or more often – conference calls throughout day/week)

Media Crews Arrive

Joplin Recovery“Satellite Row”

Media Coverage

MONDAY: St. Louis• Communications SWAT team formed in St. Louis• Communications command center established in

board room at St. John’s Mercy– Manage internal messaging– Handle overflow media calls and coordinated

release of news to media– Coordinate with Foundation Office on donations, HR

on co-worker communications/support, Administration on volunteer support

– Execute web strategy, including social media

Social Media

• Step 1: Build out the Joplin section of Mercy.net

• Step 2: Review social media dialogue plan• Step 3: Set up listening posts• Step 4: Build out our social media tools

– Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flikr, Intranet

Social Media Uses

• Communicate to both co-workers and community

• Reinforce facts where dialogue is taking place

• Promote “response-rebuild” message of hope to community

TUESDAY• Command center moved from Springfield to

Joplin (Holiday Inn Convention Center)• Determine need for more on-the-ground media

support– Media relations staff from Kansas arrive to

support Springfield/Joplin team– Media relations staff from Oklahoma, Hot

Springs and Washington round out on-the-ground support through rest of week

• Plan news conference in Joplin for Wednesday

Joplin Recovery

Convention Center in Joplin became a temporary command center

Joplin Command Center

Command Center

Command Center

Command Center

WEDNESDAY

• “We will rebuild” – mid-morning news conference in Joplin

• Covered live by online media outlets, taped and broadcast locally and nationally

• News release picked up around the world• Combination of guerilla tactics and social

media

“We Will Rebuild” Press Conference

THURSDAY-SUNDAY• Satellite trucks begin to leave but calls

continue• New field hospital – St. John’s Mercy

Hospital – opens at 7 a.m. on Sunday, one week after the tornado

• New hospital is blessed at 5:57 p.m., one week to the minute that the tornado struck

Mobile Hospital

Mobile Hospital

Mobile Hospital

Mobile Hospital

Lessons Learned

• Crisis planning is critical but must be flexible in moment (impossible to plan for everything)

• Value of a coordinated communications/ media team – ability to bring resources to bear

• Social media has forever changed how we communicate and what is news – we can influence but not control

Social Media Lessons

• People demand hyper-transparency• It’s less about control and more about

listening• Teamwork between digital and

newsmaking teams key to success• When traditional systems break down,

social media takes on added influence

42

BROADCAST

Brand in control

One way / Delivering a message

Repeating the message

Focused on the brand

Educating

Organization Creates Content

SOCIAL MEDIA

Audience in control

Two way / Being a part of a conversation

Adapting the message/ beta

Focused on the audience / Adding value

Influencing, involving

User created content / Co-creation

Broadcast vs. Social

Audience in Control

Two-Way Dialogue

Adapting the Message

BY THE NUMBERS• Approximately 15 people deployed for on-the-

ground media management during first week – Media relations team supplemented by

business development, marketing staff, even a graphic designer

• Another 4 to 6 managed calls from other locations either full or part-time

• 4 to 6 team members in St. Louis managed internal communications, web, news releases

BY THE NUMBERS• Managed estimated 500 media interviews and

calls in first 48 hours alone• Vocus found 1,000 stories a day for first 3 days• Several thousand media requests to date (lost

count after 1,000 – still attempting to track them all)

• First day without media calls (including weekends): June 19

• 200% increase in traffic to mercy.net– 40% from Facebook

Biggest Challenges

• Volume of media on the ground• Spotty telecommunications• Dealing with shock• Biggest surprise – media were for most

part patient and kind

A New Beginning

• New Hospital Announced Yesterday!• Groundbreaking January 2012• Opening 2014• $950 million investment in rebuilding

Joplin

A New Beginning