The last time I took an extended break from blogging the decision was forced on me.
It was April 2016 and I was resting, uncomfortably, flat on my back in a hospital bed at Freeman waiting for triple bypass surgery.
My surgery was delayed for a week until the blood thinners I had been taking were completely gone from my system.
When you stay in the hospital for two weeks, you see all hospital departments in action, not just doctors and nurses, but housekeeping, food service, the business department, therapists, technicians, even volunteers.
I had the opportunity to see how many people it takes to make a hospital run smoothly.
And in the years since, as I drive along the streets and highways in this area, I see the billboards and the appreciation Freeman officials have for those hard-working men and women.
Not very much, apparently.
The face that stares back at drivers is not a doctor, a nurse, a cook, a therapist or a volunteer.
The face of Freeman, the face Freeman seems to think attracts patients and advertises the hospital's mission has been CEO Paula Baker.
It's not a bad face. If a family drives by a Freeman billboard, the children aren't going to see a giant Paula Baker looking back at them and scream in terror.
I am no expert in advertising, but if someone were to task me to find a marketing strategy that could promote Freeman, I would strongly consider larger-than-life photos of health professionals actually working with patients.
Sure, it would be a hassle to get permissions and waivers and you may even have to pay a little, but the doctors, nurses and regular staff are the people most patients are seeing when they are in the hospital.
Few of us receive a visit from the CEO.
So unless Freeman is spending its money on billboards designed to attract only the Joplin area elite- the kind of people who are sitting in the back seat of their town cars, spot a Freeman billboard and say to their chauffeur, "My God, Charles! Isn't that Paula Baker?", it would seem the money could be spent in a wiser fashion.
Thankfully, the opportunity for a new start has arrived.
Paula Baker announced her retirement this week. Though it is not scheduled to go into effect for another year, it's never too early to consider a shift in marketing strategy.
CEOs are important to the success of any hospital, no doubt about it, but most of us don't make our hospital decisions based on who the CEO is. We either have to use the hospital because our insurance dictates it, or we choose it because we appreciate the skilled medical professionals and friendly, hard-working staff.
You have hundreds of people like that working at Freeman.
It's time to send that message.
Anything else would be malpractice.
16 comments:
I guarantee you thousands of people laugh every day about this so called marketing strategy.
It boggles the mind that it’s gone on this long. It shows an ego that’s hard for most people to comprehend.
It is definitely time for a major cultural change at this place, and outside talent is desperately needed. Otherwise, the FBI should simply set up a large base in Joplin and really delve into the corruption.
Just a thought. I see billboards that says something like "they just don't practice here, they live here".
i want a doctor with the best ability, not too impressed with the fact they live.
Surely we aren't the hub of the best resident doctors.
Now that I am on a toot, I am constantly watching news media showing the money Freeman is donating to building structures where their name appears. Might want to improve and update their current facilities.
A marketing plan which inclues billboards with the CEO's face is a genius marketing plan if the CEO likes the idea!
A situation such as that also tends to sort out which marketing consultants tend to have ideas versus those that tend to have stupid ideas.
Culture went down when Gary Duncan left!!
This marketing strategy has always baffled me. I know Paula Baker has never been one to shy away from a photo op, but why any marketing professional would think plastering her face all over the Four States is going to drive medical consumers to choose Freeman over Mercy is beyond my understanding. It made sense for Lee Iacocca to be in the Chrysler commercials when he was trying to bring back Chrysler from financial ruin, but Paula Baker is no Lee Iacocca.
But while we are at it, the initial decision by the Freeman board to elevate her to the position of CEO baffled me as well. Finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel to seeing Paula Baker out of a position she never should have been in in the first place.
Using the term “malpractice” is pure click-bait and incredibly misleading. As a joplin resident who drives all around town for work, I see many more billboard signs showing doctors and services than I do of Paul Baker. If all signs were of her, yes, I would see an issue. However a few isolated signs shouldn’t be blown so out of proportion.
It has been my observation over the years that every time that the cheapest insult most people have in their arsenal when commenting on this blog is to call something "clickbait." Clickbait is when you try to mislead the readers into thinking they're going to get something out of an article and then the article doesn't deliver what it promises.
I give my readers credit for intelligence. No one who clicked on the article thought they were going to be reading about a malpractice lawsuit involving Freeman. My guess is when the readers saw the words "billboard strategy" anyone who has seen the advertising knew exactly what I was writing about.
In this instance, the term "malpractice" is perfectly fitting, as I explained in the post.
However, there is one area in which I agree with you, Anonymous. I, too, have driven the roads of Joplin and I have yet to see a billboard featuring Paul Baker.
Who the heck is Paul Baker?
.....and this is why Randy writes the Turner Report and we read it. Good on you Randy.
I think you got trolled by someone impersonating the ghost of that Harvey guy and his illogical comments.
Probably some Stupid Out-Of-Town - Marketing Company that Costs Freeman - Millions of Dollars to Promote Paula Baker - as the Queen / Face of Freeman - In our Social Conscious Woke Society - - Same type of Thought Process - that Anheuser-Busch, bought into when they thought using a transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to Promote Bud Light Beer and Losing over $400 Million in Value - - and know are trying to use Kansas City Chiefs Travis Kelce to regain its lost market share.
Hospitals Run on Money - - Donations, Charging Exorbitant Amounts on Procedures, and Medicines - About 66.5% of Bankruptcies are caused by medical debt, while continual having Fund Raisers - to keep that Cash Rolling In -
Most emergency room prices are inflated based on the rates at which insurance companies will reimburse the hospital on a patient's behalf. That's why a single aspirin can cost $30 per pill in the E.R., which is more than six times the price for a bottle of them at the drug store.
Yes - Freeman should be Creating the Best Quality Care System - if anything Promoting the People that are on the Frontlines - Doctors, Nurses, Housekeeping, Food Service, the Business Department, Therapists, Technicians, even Volunteers - the Unsung Heros - because without them Paula Baker - is just a Pencil Pusher - - and don't most Top CEO's live by the Strategy of Hiring the Best and Working and Contributing as a Team - - to the Battement of the Organization and that is what Freeman Health Care Systems is - and Let us Never Forget - Freeman Health System is a non-for-profit health system - so if they ever call you or take you to Court for Un-Paid Services at their Hospital - tell them to send the Bill to the Very Overpaid - Paula Baker $$$$$,
I liked it when she shaked up her image to look more Mature....what a hag Narcissistic as they come
I would like to know how much their marketing budget is?
Provide excellent service, no advertising needed, word of mouth lets you know who the quack Dr’s are and who the good ones are.
I’ve never picked a hospital because of any advertisement, it unfortunately is dictated by my insurance provider.
The real question is why can’t we pick?
Home many other parts of the country follow this nonsense system?
And I bet 2016 care is way different than 2024 care, I would love to say it’s getting better but with mandatory vaccinations of the recent past and everyone that bit, I don’t believe so.
I know this may trigger some people but the Covid deaths occurred in the hospital not at homes. I will leave it at that.
Thanks Randy I don’t agree with you often but I believe you are a good journalist.
My favorite billboard is the one on 7th and Rangeline that says "F Our Doctors"
Make people think you might be one of those antivax horse paste eaters in just a few words?
the Covid deaths occurred in the hospital not at homes
So where did the majority of deaths occur? Tell me you hate this country and my freedoms by continuing to vote the big D.
And I've always wondered why she dresses like Queen Elizabeth, with the pearls and the brooches. And I agree with the person who suggested that things went downhill when Gary Duncan left. Gary was a competent CEO who cared more about the people who made Freeman successful and the patients who benefited as a result. He gave others the credit and would have been mortified if someone had suggested that he put his face up on billboards all over town.
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