Case Study:

Public Affairs/Government Relations  

The situation
Tower Holdings LLC stepped into a hornet's nest when it took over operations of a nursing home that was being shut down by the state of Kentucky.  Tower Holdings sought to save the 286-bed nursing home license and open a new nursing home operation to serve the community.  Meanwhile, state officials signaled every intent to revoke the license.

The strategy
These goals drove our strategy:

1. To build trust in the community and among public officials for Tower Holdings' plans to open a new nursing home, after trust had been broken by the prior operation.
2. To be transparent in business discussions and transactions in the community.
3. To provide informed and open communication to the public, the media, public officials and the health care community to help create understanding about the compexity of issues and gain support for Tower Holdings.

The execution

• Rose Communications prepared fact sheets, bios, background information and sent these with personal letters to public officials, civic leaders, health care officials and key media.
• We organized meetings between Tower Holdings and key public officials and civic leaders, including hospital executives and the Health Care Committee of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
• We also arranged meetings with state health officials for Tower Holdings.
• We set up media interviews with Tower Holdings president, positively turning the tide of news stories.
• Rose successfully encouraged community groups to send letters and emails to state health officials.

The results

• Eight months after the effort began, state officials approved the transfer of the 286-bed nursing home license to Tower Holdings and the re-opening of a nursing home to serve the community.
• Media coverage remained positive, with all regional newspapers and TV stations continuing to cover the story.