Mercy's hospital in Joplin received a direct hit from a tornado on May 22. This presentation, given to the PRSA in St. Louis recently, documents Mercy's collective response using traditional communications and social media.

1. Joplin Tornado Case Study: Communicating After a Disaster

2. About Mercy 8TH largest Catholic health system in U.S. Home office in St. Louis; hospital, physician offices and other services in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma; outreach ministries in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi 28 acute care hospitals 38,000 co-workers 1,500 Mercy Clinic physicians

3. Mercy MarCom Moved to centralized structure in spring 2010 92 co-workers across four states Local marketing/communications teams supported by functional/consolidated teams representing: Newsmaking Business Development Creative Services Digital Mercy Experience (voice of the customer research)

4. Mercy in Joplin One of our newest communities Joined Mercy in November 2009, transferring from Catholic Health Initiatives of Denver Good fit culturally – originally established by the Sisters of Mercy Good fit strategically – surrounded by existing Mercy communities in SW Missouri, SE Kansas and NW Arkansas

5. May 21, 2011 367 beds 2,800 co-workers and physicians 40-year-old campus

6. The Disaster Date: Sunday, May 22, 2011 Time: 5:41 p.m. Impact: 6½ miles long, ¾ mile wide band of destruction Hospital patients: 183 inpatients; 25 emergency department patients Co-workers: 276 working at the hospital

7. May 22, 2011

8. May 23, 2011 Photo courtesy Kansas City Star

9. Joplin Recovery

10. Joplin Recovery Photo courtesy: AP/Tulsa World - Adam Wisneski

15. Joplin Recovery

16. Joplin Recovery Memorial Hall

17. Joplin Recovery Memorial Hall

18. Joplin Recovery Memorial Hall

19. Crisis Communications TimelineSUNDAY NIGHT Word spreads across Mercy – phone calls, text messages, e-mails Temporary command center established in Springfield Executive, operational and communications/media leaders and staff both on-the-ground and by phone, text, e-mail devise initial plan

20. Springfield War Room

21. MONDAY: Joplin Early morning – Four members of Springfield communications/media team arrive in Joplin to support three-member team in Joplin Key task: manage media on the ground at hospital site, Memorial Hall and other locations Secondary: manage incoming media calls Ongoing: Coordinating with team in St. Louis and other Mercy locations (twice daily – or more often – conference calls throughout day/week)

22. Media Crews Arrive

23. Joplin Recovery “Satellite Row”

24. Media Coverage

25. MONDAY: St. Louis Communications SWAT team formed in St. Louis Communications command center established in board room at St. John’s Mercy Manage internal messaging Handle overflow media calls and coordinated release of news to media Coordinate with Foundation Office on donations, HR on co-worker communications/support, Administration on volunteer support Execute web strategy, including social media

26. Social Media Step 1: Build out the Joplin section of Mercy.net Step 2: Review social media dialogue plan Step 3: Set up listening posts Step 4: Build out our social media tools Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flikr, Intranet

27. Social Media Uses Communicate to both co-workers and community Reinforce facts where dialogue is taking place Promote “response-rebuild” message of hope to community

28. TUESDAY Command center moved from Springfield to Joplin (Holiday Inn Convention Center) Determine need for more on-the-ground media support Media relations staff from Kansas arrive to support Springfield/Joplin team Media relations staff from Oklahoma, Hot Springs and Washington round out on-the-ground support through rest of week Plan news conference in Joplin for Wednesday

29. Joplin Recovery Joplin Command Center Convention Center in Joplin became a temporary command center

30. Command Center

31. Command Center

32. Command Center

33. WEDNESDAY “We will rebuild” – mid-morning news conference in Joplin Covered live by online media outlets, taped and broadcast locally and nationally News release picked up around the world Combination of guerilla tactics and social media

34. “We Will Rebuild” Press Conference

35. THURSDAY-SUNDAY Satellite trucks begin to leave but calls continue New field hospital – St. John’s Mercy Hospital – opens at 7 a.m. on Sunday, one week after the tornado New hospital is blessed at 5:57 p.m., one week to the minute that the tornado struck

36. Mobile Hospital

37. Mobile Hospital

38. Mobile Hospital

39. Mobile Hospital

40. Lessons Learned Crisis planning is critical but must be flexible in moment (impossible to plan for everything) Value of a coordinated communications/ media team – ability to bring resources to bear Social media has forever changed how we communicate and what is news – we can influence but not control

41. Social Media Lessons People demand hyper-transparency It’s less about control and more about listening Teamwork between digital and newsmaking teams key to success When traditional systems break down, social media takes on added influence

42. 42 Broadcast vs. Social BROADCAST Brand in control One way / Delivering a message Repeating the message Focused on the brand Educating Organization Creates Content SOCIAL MEDIA Audience in control Two way / Being a part of a conversation Adapting the message/ beta Focused on the audience / Adding value Influencing, involving User created content / Co-creation

43. Audience in Control

44. Two-Way Dialogue

45. Adapting the Message

46. BY THE NUMBERS Approximately 15 people deployed for on-the-ground media management during first week Media relations team supplemented by business development, marketing staff, even a graphic designer Another 4 to 6 managed calls from other locations either full or part-time 4 to 6 team members in St. Louis managed internal communications, web, news releases

47. BY THE NUMBERS Managed estimated 500 media interviews and calls in first 48 hours alone Vocus found 1,000 stories a day for first 3 days Several thousand media requests to date (lost count after 1,000 – still attempting to track them all) First day without media calls (including weekends): June 19 200% increase in traffic to mercy.net 40% from Facebook

48. Biggest Challenges Volume of media on the ground Spotty telecommunications Dealing with shock Biggest surprise – media were for most part patient and kind

49. A New Beginning New Hospital Announced Yesterday! Groundbreaking January 2012 Opening 2014 $950 million investment in rebuilding Joplin

50. A New Beginning