The Role of Public Relations in Informing a Crisis Plan for the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and the Broward Health Medical Center in Florida

Abstract

Abstract: One major aim of this study is to determine how to manage crises in healthcare organizations most effectively. Another is to determine how to minimize the chances of disaster. I will analyze two cases to show the need for strong public relations and management in healthcare institutions. The first case is the handling of the Ebola patient by the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in 2014. The second is the leadership crisis at Broward Health Medical Center in 2016. The purpose of this research is to offer recommendations to healthcare organizations during crisis management by examining the possible impacts of crises on organizations. The findings of this study are important because they show the value of public relations to healthcare institutions. The analyses also show that if the two institutions had developed detailed crisis communication plans, their losses could easily have been mitigated. As I discussed in previous chapters, public relations can help a company create a public image and maintain public trust. However, because these two institutions lacked well-developed public relations departments, they faced problems. One major cause of problems during crises is poor communication or lack of communication. A public relations department can help in the formulation of a plan for communicating with the public before, during, and after a crisis. This can encourage the development of solutions faster than these institutions managed to do.