Communicating hospitals' concerns to legislators and the community

The time is past when voluntary hospitals could afford to be uninformed and inactive in public affairs. As decisions in the public sector increasingly threaten not-for-profit institutions, Catholic hospitals particularly must pursue an action-oriented program of communication with legislators and the community. At Carney Hospital, Boston, an especially effective forum for the past eight years has been buffet dinners held on a quarterly basis with state and congressional legislators and representatives of the hospital's management team, board of trustees, associate board, and medical staff. These dinner meetings provide a singular opportunity for law-makers to learn hospitals' perspective on key issues such as the effect of tightened reimbursement on care of the poor. The dinners not only have enhanced relations with legislators but also raised the consciousness of the business community, consumers, and the general public. Frequent mailings to legislators and members of the board of trustees and the associate board also have beeN helpful. The associate board was formed to augment the expertise of the board to trustees and to increase lay participation in the hospital's affairs. Composed of 20 lay leaders representing a diversity of disciplines, the associate board provides a strong base for influencing public policy and community action. Moreover, the hospital's various constituencies--physicians, employees, volunteers, and auxilians-are recruited as appropriate to contact legislators, write letters to the editor, and give media interviews. Also important in the facility's public affairs efforts have been timely responses to requests for action from The Catholic Health Association, the American Hospital Association, and the state hospital association.