Bring attention to your hospital heroes

Dear Medical Staff Leader,

Members of your medical staff and other hospital personnel may have been called to active military duty over the past few weeks or months, and some physicians may have requested leaves of absence (see this week's Credentialing Connection for more about this specific topic).

If health care professionals from your community are overseas serving the country, your medical staff should consider acknowledging these practitioners' efforts and commitment with an announcement in the local newspaper.

A paid advertisement is one way to be sure your staff gets publicity. Better yet, contact the local media. If you have an established relationship with an individual reporter or the local editor, give him or her a call with specifics about members of your staff who are serving in the military.

Alternatively, you could contact the individual in your hospital responsible for public relations. This person will be able to prepare a suitable "press release" to be distributed to local press contacts.

This initial contact can prompt the local newspaper to pursue a more extensive article addressing the extent to which health care professionals from your community are serving in the military.

A simple "Letter to the Editor" from you as chief of staff, department chair, or secretary of the staff could easily communicate the hospital staff's appreciation for the efforts of physicians and others in the military.

Most newspapers and other media welcome such information from the public. In this time of war, don't hesitate to take the initiative and contact them with this pertinent information.

That's all for this week.

All the best,

Hugh Greeley