Jan. 10, 2022

It was a very COVID-era way to launch a new marketing approach.

Employees by the hundreds logged on at Avera Health last week for 15-minute “launch parties” as leadership unveiled what the public now will begin seeing in a multitude of messaging campaigns.

“Moving Health Forward.”

Those three words form the centerpiece of a multifaceted marketing campaign Avera debuts today, attempting to capture both the future and the moment in time.

“Moving Health Forward,” CEO Bob Sutton repeats, as he sits down to discuss both the campaign and the broader approach organizationally behind it.

“It can be prenatal to post-hospice. It can be developing relationships, one-on-one personal relationships and through access points people want: innovative technology, virtual care. It’s meeting people where they want to be. This messaging brings that all together.”

On this day, “Moving Health Forward” looks much the same as it has for going on two years. The latest surge of pandemic patients has caused long lines at testing centers, extended hours at urgent cares and filled hospital beds.

“For the last year, it’s really been a combination of trying to focus on the urgency of the immediate – just taking care of things that were right in front of us – obviously the pandemic, workforce issues … and all the while we have to continue as an organization focusing on our strategic vision,” Sutton said.

“That’s really how we spent 2021. How can we make sure what we’re doing on an episodic basis has a connection back to our strategic plan.”

Case in point: On this day, 500 patients have been “admitted” into the hospital at home. That means they will receive virtual monitoring and check-ins from nurses but will not be occupying a hospital bed.

Look strategically into the future – “Moving Health Forward” – and the landscape is similar, Avera leaders said.

“The future is your home is going to be your hospital,” said Kendra Calhoun, senior vice president of strategic marketing, communications and public relations.

“It’s just been put on steroids during this whole pandemic.”

The past year also saw Avera sell off its Avera eCare operation to private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners, which renamed it Avel eCare and continues to operate it largely from Sioux Falls.

“It’s been pretty seamless, and we’re thankful the services are still available to us,” Sutton said.

“What they’re looking at is what kind of opportunities there are for growth, and we look forward to perhaps post-pandemic being able to serve as a pilot for them when they want to talk about what other products they want to come to market with.”

Avera has hired a director of virtual health “to focus on direct patient care and artificial intelligence in the clinical area,” Calhoun added.

Increased personalization

In developing the new “Moving Health Forward” campaign, which Calhoun describes as a multiyear approach that will build, Avera is emphasizing internal and external participation.

“Our employees have been a huge inspiration for this campaign throughout the pandemic, just how they’ve served our community and each other,” she said.

“As the pandemic has gone on, personalization has really emerged as that key relationship, relevancy touch point for people. So it’s how do we get beyond talking to people about conditions and just talking to people and listening.”

Research found that consumers nationwide report decreasing preferences around brands in general and specifically around health care, Calhoun continued.

“So we don’t want to lose our relationship in our market, and we feel it’s time to come out and reengage internally and externally,” she said. “We’ve always enjoyed a very strong connection and don’t want to lose that, so we’re really focusing on it now.”

Employees are being asked to share what “Moving Health Forward” means to them, and the public will be invited to do the same.

A commercial is set to air during the Super Bowl, with corresponding social media content.

Employees were mailed stickers saying “Moving Health Forward” to display on their vehicles or elsewhere.

Community members who participate in the campaign will be able to direct donations toward causes of their choice, including providing coffee to health care workers or donating to a food-related nonprofit.

“It’s very heavy digital because we find that’s the easiest way to engage with consumers is through the virtual space,” Calhoun said.

The idea is to marry “high touch” and “high tech,” Avera leaders said.

“The question we’re posing for others, our employees and our community and patients as a whole is: What are your dreams? What do you want to make sure you’re going to be here for or to do? And when you decide that, how can we help you get there,” Sutton said. “That’s Moving Health Forward.”

Focus on 2022

For Avera as a whole, the year ahead could begin to show a shift as its strategic plan evolves from a recent focus on operational optimization to a greater focus on growth.

The addition to Avera Behavioral Health is scheduled to open in March, and the new east-side medical center at 26th Street and Veterans Parkway is on track to open in the first quarter of 2023.

“For me, Moving Health Forward also really is an opportunity for us to say where do you want health care, what do we need to be doing for facilities,” Sutton said.

That includes in rural areas, where some populations will be served more through virtual health and where Avera is building a new hospital and long-term care facility in Gregory in south-central South Dakota.

“It’s an important component of our rural network,” Sutton said. “But we’re really taking a look in Sioux Falls at what the needs are.”

That could include additional land purchases “not just in Sioux Falls but certainly around Sioux Falls, where the growth is going,” he said.

“We really are looking at what capacity do we have on the Avera McKennan campus and what things can we move off and do different, perhaps on Louise where we have 80 acres that allows future development … so I think there are a lot of exciting things to come.”

As the city’s population grows, more beds and facilities are going to be needed, he said.

“You’ll be seeing opportunities we have for significant projects that may be tailored to a very specific market and delivery model coming soon,” Sutton said.

One area of focus will be women’s health, which he called “a high priority” that will be reflected in future budgets.

Avera’s fiscal year ends June 30, and halfway through, “we are right on or slightly ahead of budget with our forecast,” Sutton said.

“We feel relatively comfortable with that, but I felt relatively comfortable in January of 2020 too. Volumes are high, though. Volumes are extremely high, and we don’t see that backing down in the next six to eight weeks and even after that.”