You are the CEO of a community hospital that is one of three hospitals in the community. It is a highly competitive health care market with all three hospitals being extremely aggressive in marketing and physician recruitment.

The local community newspaper recently completed some research and wrote an article that indicated your hospital had the highest C-Section rate by a significant margin over the other two competitors.

On the day this article makes headlines, you receive a call from the Board Chairman voicing a concern about the article and requesting you be prepared to provide the Board at its next meeting (2 weeks) with a presentation that explains why you are the highest in the community and what will the hospital do to counteract any negative publicity.

In no more than two (2) pages, double-spaced, what plan of action will you implement to address this issue?

• Who will you meet with and for what purpose?
• What research, if any, will you conduct?
• Assuming the data reported in the newspaper is accurate, what will you tell the board?
• Would you develop a public relations plan for the community?
• Would you deal with the newspaper and the author of the article? If so, how?
• What else would your plan of action include?