For Immediate Release – October 26, 2011
Contacts: Julie Holland, Marketing & Communications Director, Deaconess Hospital –
(509) 473-7027 or (509) 981-3447
Sasha Jackowich, Marketing & Communications Director, Valley Hospital –
(509) 473-5482 or (509) 951-9705
Jill Fix, VP of Marketing, Rockwood – (509) 342-3750 or (509) 385-1994
Rockwood Health System Links IDS Partners
Deaconess Hospital, Rockwood Clinic and Valley Hospital
SPOKANE, Wa. (October 26, 2011) – Two years ago Deaconess Medical Center, Valley Hospital and Medical Center, and Rockwood Clinic joined forces to transform healthcare in the community with the development of an Integrated Healthcare Delivery System (IDS). Working together, they have increased access to health services, improved coordination of patient care among providers, and focused on quality and customer relationships.
Growth of the IDS has prompted the partner organizations to establish a unified brand identity – a name and other identifying marks – that clearly indicates the organizations are part of a network with a shared vision of seamless, coordinated care. Moving forward, the IDS will be known as the Rockwood Health System. Each facility will continue to use its own name first, while adding the Rockwood Health System name to signage, advertising, and other communications.
“Our system continues to grow to care for more patients across the Inland Northwest, and we want the community and our customers to know with certainty when they are ‘in’ the system,” said Bill Gilbert, chief executive officer of Deaconess Hospital. “Our Rockwood Health System brand will visibly unite our operations, our people, and our mission in a way that tells our community that we are working—and that we belong—together.”
Leadership teams from Deaconess, Rockwood and Valley spent months conducting research, engaging branding experts, developing the system name and seeking input from each partner organization and community physicians. Through this process they learned that the “Rockwood” brand has more recognition and recall than any other healthcare brand in the community. And Rockwood’s operations are the most geographically broad, with more than 40 locations across the region.
In addition to adopting the Rockwood Health System name, the partner hospitals will streamline their names in response to recent studies indicating that consumers in the Spokane market specifically prefer “hospital” to “medical center.” Valley Hospital and Medical Center will be known as Valley Hospital and Deaconess Medical Center becomes Deaconess Hospital. Hospital names will be updated as signage changes are made across the Rockwood Health System.
“The Rockwood Health System will continue to grow over time to meet our most important goal – elevating the quality of patient care for our community,” said Dennis Barts, Chief Executive Officer of Valley Hospital. “Even as we establish this brand, we will continue to be an inclusive organization and welcome the opportunity to work productively with all of our community’s physicians, to strengthen health services and to provide an unparalleled level of customer service and convenience for patients.”
“Through our new unified brand, our patients will know at every point along the continuum of care that they are being cared for by an integrated network of providers,” said Craig Whiting, M.D., chief executive officer, Rockwood. “The people who provide care, the quality of our services, and the patient experience we deliver will continue to be the cornerstones of the Rockwood Health System – and we know these are the reasons more local residents trust us with their healthcare.”