Why I Enjoy Going to this Hospital

As our relatives and friends get older we spend more time in hospitals, checking up on them and helping with appointments and procedures. One of my neighborhood’s hospitals that I visit from time to time for this purpose, Mercy General Hospital, belongs to a Western Health Advantage founder and partner, Mercy/Dignity Health Sacramento.

Catholic Healthcare West changed its name in 2012 to Dignity Health, and its new branding was tagged #hellohumankindness. When you go to a Dignity Health hospital, you see big signs in the lobby that say “Hello” and “Caring,” and signs in the hallways that say “Humankindness has no offseason.” On Dignity Health’s website, there are links with labels like “Find a Doctor who puts Humanity in Health Care.”

“Hello humankindness” is not just Dignity Health’s marketing campaign. A brand is an organization’s culture and all the employees in an organization must live it for it to be successful. A brand should show up in everything that has to do with an organization. Not just with the front office staff that interacts with the public, but also in how all other employees go about their jobs. The brand should also be reflected in how management and employees interact with each other.

Our partner Dignity Health delivers on its branding. I’ve seen that firsthand in my visits to Mercy General Hospital. Nurses, physicians, janitors, and receptionists live the brand in the ways they treat patients and each other – with human kindness. The public – including our Western Health Advantage members – responds positively to that attitude and to Dignity Health’s positive messages about health and respect.

Dignity’s “humankindness” brand dovetails nicely with WHA’s Mission Statement: “We are committed to improving the health and well-being of our community by expanding access to health care and responding positively to the changing needs of our members, providers and community, while delivering the highest level of service with integrity, accuracy and sincerity.”

I’m proud to have Dignity Health as one of WHA’s partners. We both believe human connections help people heal faster and should be delivered with a healthy dose of human kindness.

Garry Maisel is the President and CEO of Western Health Advantage. For more information about WHA, visit westernhealth.com.