GOVERNMENT RELATIONS: HEALTH CARE

Case Study 1: Capital Funding

CAPITAL FUNDING

challenge

An Ontario hospital that had been slated to close by the provincial government instead was able to reposition itself as an institution servicing a growing patient population in need. Pursuant to its new vision, the hospital re-launched itself under a new name and embarked on an ambitious expansion and redevelopment plan requiring significant funding from the provincial government. Given the fierce competition in the health care sector for limited government funds, the hospital needed to ensure that its capital requirements were on the radar screen of government decision-makers. With a provincial election imminent, and a change in government possible, the hospital also needed to raise its profile with the Official Opposition.

strategy

We developed and implemented a government relations outreach program to raise the profile of the hospital with key decision-makers and influencers in the Official Opposition. The program was designed to position the hospital as a sensible and innovative solution to many of the challenges facing the health care system and a model deserving of adequate government funding. Our strategy was to: (i) promote the hospital as a model of good health care management providing essential services to a burgeoning patient population; and (ii) position the hospital CEO as a "go to person" on health care policy.

results

Within a few months, the hospital CEO was invited to participate in a health care policy roundtable with the Leader of the Official Opposition and a handful of other health care experts, as well as other policy-making initiatives and discussions. Policy-makers began to acknowledge the growing needs of the patient population served by the hospital and to consider the need for additional beds in the province to serve this specific group. When the Opposition party formed the new Government after a provincial election, the hospital, the needs of its patient population, and the hospital CEO were already well-known to key Government decision-makers, thereby enhancing the hospital's prospects for capital funding.