Best Internal Communications: Small Hospital, Gold Award

Of course, it was hoping for more than a single thread. CHW East Valley wanted to develop an internal campaign to celebrate the diversity of culture found throughout the Chandler, AZ, area. CHW East Valley wanted a campaign that would demonstrate how diversity weaves all employees together while still allowing each individual to retain his or her own beauty and strength.

The World Health Organization states, “The people of the world can be seen as a tapestry woven of many different strands. Those strands differ in size, shape, color, intensity, age, and place of origin. All strands are integral to the whole, yet each retains an individuality that enriches the beauty of the cloth.” Adapting this concept literally, CHW East Valley extended an invitation to employees from various departments to share with their coworkers a piece of fabric that has been important to them in their lives. It was hoped that by doing this, the employees would recognize the influence of their culture on their values and healthcare practices. It was also important that the campaign show all of them that they are an important part of the CHW East Valley “tapestry.”

Those who volunteered had their stories, faces, and fabrics put together in an employee calendar. The calendar featured many employees from various cultural and religious backgrounds. The fabrics were displayed below their pictures with a genuine story about the importance of the fabric in their personal and professional lives.

One employee recalled that early in his career, an elderly woman had given him a colorful tie. In his calendar story, Dr. Kirkpatrick, medical director for Gilbert Urgent Care, says, “To me, this tie symbolizes that she cared enough about me as a doctor to go out of her way to buy this gift, because I cared enough about her as my patient.” A personal story from Dr. Malik, a physician at Queen Creek Urgent Care, is about a piece from his prayer rug: “Dr. Malik’s prayer rug is special because it is a source of comfort and success. Through prayer to his Creator, he has found relief of distress, and with intense efforts, a source of success when the doors of opportunity opened through prayer.”

All the stories and memories are personal, but through their individual differences, all are brought together through this one common thread: working together for CHW East Valley and their patients. During the holiday season, the calendars were given to more than 3,000 employees and volunteers. This campaign brought staff members and employees together in a unique way. As one of our judges said, “This was such a nice idea. It was well implemented and brought employees together; it was the definition of a positive internal campaign.”

-Gienna Shaw, excerpted from Hospital Campaigns That Work, 2007 ed.