Marketing

I spent the last third of my career in public relations - marketing - at our local hospital that bore the name of a local man whose generosity built the fine red brick edifice. As I navigated the changes that came fast and furious in those 18 years, I always took seriously my job to communicate - share -  information with the public. The bedrock was to always tell the truth.

Of course, it was my job to present information in the best possible light. But as I first began writing press releases, preparing advertisements and brochures, my boss cautioned me against using superlatives and to instead focus on presenting information patients and families could believe and trust as they made health care choices. 

That experience is why I was aghast at the way UPMC announced the pending closure of the unit in the Hospital formerly known as Long Term Care and/or Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation and named "Cole Place" when UPMC assumed control of local health care.

UPMC and Sweden Valley Manor Announce Partnership To Enhance Long Term Care Services For Coudersport Residents

UPMC Cole and Sweden Valley Manor are pleased to announce a strengthened partnership that will elevate long-term care services for the Coudersport community. By early November, Cole Place, a skilled nursing facility located within UPMC Cole, will transfer its operations to Sweden Valley Manor, a skilled nursing facility located right across the street.

“This transition will offer Cole Place residents a truly beautiful, special place to live — one that feels just like home,” said Dan Glunk, M.D., interim president, UPMC Cole and UPMC Wellsboro. “Sweden Valley Manor is known for its personalized, compassionate care. This collaboration between UPMC Cole and Sweden Valley Manor builds on our longstanding partnership in caring for Potter County and beyond.”

I can't imagine that the team crafting these press releases - or even Dr. Glunk  – might possibly believe that any nursing home will feel "just like home." Home-like I might buy.

The latest press release was reminiscent of the way UPMC announced the end of labor and delivery at Potter County's only hospital, creating a seven-county area without hospital-based labor and delivery services. 

The announcement from UPMC on February 10, 2025: 

UPMC is taking steps to expand and enhance women’s health services throughout north central Pennsylvania. Our top priority is to provide every patient with high-quality care that is accessible and sustainable and ensure that every birthing parent receives the safest and most advanced care possible in a setting that offers enhanced resources and support.

The OB unit closed in April, despite the efforts of local government officials and a coordinated protest. 'Officials' would not budge and continued in promotion of the idea that the loss of services is an enhancement.

And in November, the lights will go off in Cole Place as they tell us it's an "elevation"

The marketing campaign engineered by UPMC is much like the marketing campaign launched by the MAGA movement, the kind of marketing foretold in Orwell's 1984.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.... And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed–if all records told the same tale–then the lie passed into history and became truth.” 

Heather Cox Richardson puts it this way: "They are engaged in a marketing campaign to establish Trump's false version of reality as truth. The White House has also brought into the press pool right wing influencers, who are asking questions that tee up opportunities for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to push administration talking points, which the influencers then amplify on social media."