For this assignment, I wrote a memo to the management of a large community hospital. Our prompt was: In this scenario, you are the PR director for a large community hospital. An employee has come to you and said that people in her neighborhood are angry that the hospital is planning to tear down some historic buildings to make way for the hospital's proposed new women's health clinic. She said the local Historical Commission is planning to picket the hospital on July 4. They will be joined by another group of neighbors who are worried about noise and the traffic mess that will tie up their neighborhood for more than a year. Your CEO thinks this new clinic will be a boon to the neighborhood, which has become somewhat rundown in recent years. So he is dismissing the complaints from the neighbors, despite the growing number of negative posts on social media. Your assignment is to draft a memo to management with the following information: 1. Describe the situation briefly. 2. Identify any reputational or financial risks you have identified. 3. Recommend two short-term and two long-term strategies the hospital should take to mitigate damage.

1. 1
Recognizing a Crisis: Memo
Matt Gilhooly
PUR 6904: International Issues and Crisis Communications
Professor Donohue
October 9, 2020

2. 2
TO: Jacob Smith, CEO, Community Hospital
FROM: Matt Gilhooly, PR Director
DATE: June 23, 2020
SUBJECT: Looming Crisis - Women's Health Clinic
As discussed yesterday, the hospital has received numerous complaints about the proposed
women's health clinic scheduled to break ground early next year. Many of these comments are
about potential noise and traffic during the construction period. Also, we are getting a
considerable amount of concerns from other parties regarding razing the historic buildings for
the new clinic. There is an opportunity to reframe this potential crisis with our local stakeholders
to prevent future revenue loss and maintain a positive reputation in the community.
Possible Risks, Possible Crisis
As you have said, this facility will be a boon for the neighborhood and help revitalize the
community. However, I am listening to the community, and negative comments are mounting on
social media about the new women's health clinic. People are concerned about the immediate
impact on historic buildings and the disruption of daily life. There is a picket scheduled on July 4
at the proposed clinic site, so we should quickly enact a plan to save our reputation and bottom-
line.
These concerns and actions could affect the hospital's reputation that you built over the last five
years as CEO. Our reputation in the community is an asset and something we should leverage in
this situation (Coombs, 2019, p.29). Suppose we don't turn around the perceptions of our local
stakeholders. In that scenario, I fear that we could face a potential loss of revenue, as community
members may seek other hospitals and health clinics nearby.
Turning Risks into Opportunities
Below are some recommendations to prevent this potential crisis. There are immediate needs and
long-term strategies we should employ.
Immediate Actions
• Our PR team will schedule a virtual meeting on June 30 with individuals in the
community and representatives for the Historical Commission.
o Our message: We want to work with the community so that this new health clinic
can be a success for everyone it serves.
o You are the ideal spokesperson for this meeting due to your reputation in the
community and outgoing personality (Breakenridge, 2015). I will also be there,
and the head of construction will answer any questions about the building process.
To prepare, we must train and rehearse, addressing various questions with our key
message in mind.

3. 3
o "Convincing people that something is "positive" when they are in the midst of
something "negative" is difficult" (London Business School, 2020). So, we want
to make amends with the community; we must be empathetic of feelings and
willing to hear concerns. To build trust, we should identify ways to incorporate
some of the solutions presented in our plans moving forward. These
improvements will contribute to our reputation in the community and, ultimately,
our bottom-line revenue (Kalkofen & Dettmann, n.d.).
o After the meeting, we will schedule follow-up meetings with this group to keep
the community stakeholders involved.
• We will draft a press release to share the meeting results and agreed-upon actions with
the community.
o Ideally, this action, combined with the meetings, will halt the picketing and
improve the neighborhood morale regarding the new women's clinic.
o The press release will go to local media, as well as our social media pages.
Long-term Actions
• We must regularly engage in social listening and become more active on our social media
pages, especially related to construction concerns regarding the new health clinic.
o Social listening allows us to track what is said about the hospital and the new
clinic online – in all forms of digital media. We will quickly engage with
stakeholders and prevent future crises from occurring (Tran, 2020).
• To protect our relationship with the Historical Commission, we will set up regular events
that celebrate our community's historical moments.
o The PR team will work directly with the Historical Commission on two events per
year, celebrating the community's historical milestones.
o Where appropriate, we should preserve pieces of the razed historic buildings to
include in the new clinic as art installments or a dedicated “Community History”
space in the lobby.
o From a communications standpoint, we will use these events to promote the
hospital and women’s clinic, further solidifying our hospital’s positive reputation
in the community.
I will be glad to discuss the details of these necessary actions in our meeting on Wednesday
afternoon.

4. 4
References
Breakenridge, D. (2015, August 27). Public Relations Foundations: Media Training | LinkedIn
Learning, formerly Lynda.com. LinkedIn Learning.
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/public-relations-foundations-media-training
Coombs, T. (2019). Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding (5th
ed.) [E-book]. SAGE Publications, Inc. Retrieved from
https://www.amazon.com/Ongoing-Crisis-Communication-Planning-Responding-ebook-
dp-B07LGBT3C4/dp/B07LGBT3C4
Kalkofen, K., & Dettmann, J. (n.d.). Don't Let a Social Media Crisis Damage Your Reputation.
TSunela. Retrieved October 9, 2020, from https://tsunela.com/news/dont-let-a-social-
media-crisis-damage-your-reputation/
London Business School. (2020, April 28). How To Convince People That A Crisis Is Also An
Opportunity. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lbsbusinessstrategyreview/2020/04/28/how-to-convince-
people-that-a-crisis-is-also-an-opportunity/
Tran, T. (2020, March 3). What is Social Listening, Why it Matters, and 10 Tools to Make it
Easier. Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.
https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-listening-business/