Celebrating Health Care Heroes: Part II

All eyes remain on health care in this rapidly changing pandemic landscape. And as we continue to scope out how health care brands are responding, particularly as they support their hardworking providers and staff, we’re discovering more and more stories of hope and inspiration that match the identities and resilience of their respective communities. Check out some recent examples that caught our attention here.

A new spin on gratitude

Health care brands around the nation are finding ways to engage their communities and support their staff and providers during Covid-19. But in the heart of Music City, Vanderbilt University Medical Center taps into its unique cultural roots with Gratitunes. Community members dedicate songs to medical staff that populate a playlist shared across the organization and played within clinics to help raise spirits. Local musicians like Jewel, Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans and Ben Rector have even contributed live Gratitunes for the cause. What better way to unite a community than tapping into its distinct identity?

Humans helping humans

With medical providers working around the clock amidst a pandemic, it’s easy to forget that they’re real people with hobbies and interests beyond their demanding profession. Physicians and staff at Stanford Medicine have been rallying behind their collective interests to inspire one another and serve the community apart from their work on the frontlines.

One tweet by Dr. Arghavan Salles featuring a complicated yoga pose quickly evolved into a social distancing yoga challenge and free online yoga classes. A group of musically talented Stanford Medicine faculty, staff, residents and students produced Stuck@Home, a weekly virtual concert meant to infuse joy and beauty into life while sheltering in place. Stanford’s legacy of innovation and commitment to care when and where you need it isn’t bound to the walls of their hospitals and clinics, it’s carried everywhere their people go.

Learn More: Brands, not Governments, can be our COVID-19 Cure

A peek under the hood

As the health care industry is thrust into the national spotlight even more, it’s important for health care brands to illuminate the people and stories that drive their efforts forward in their own communities. In a video message by Memorial Healthcare System President and CEO, Aurelio Fernandez takes viewers behind the scenes of the efforts made to take care of the Memorial patients, providers, staff and community. Rather than a stuffy, corporate feel, his message provides an authentic window of visualization through raw video footage and photos of their own people working together and ends with his sincere thanks:

“From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you for the hard work and dedication that you have shown over the last several weeks. It is truly an honor to represent you.”

Learn More: In the time of COVID-19, Messages Matter

Celebrating victories

As case numbers and death tolls rise, there’s a somberness that clouds our daily lives. St. Joe’s Mercy Oakland Hospital found a way to exuberantly pierce through the gloom. With every victorious discharge of a Covid-19 patient, they play “Don’t Stop Believing” over the loud speaker. Acknowledging the severity of this global crisis, there are still ways for brands to inspire hope and spark optimism—and those efforts matter, no matter how small.

So, what’s the best way to celebrate and acknowledge your own health care heroes? There’s a connecting thread woven through these standout examples—the people and the culture that makes them unique.

What do you think about these examples? Have you heard of others? Let us know on social, or here to continue the conversation.