How a Hospital in New York’s Most Remote Borough Grew Its Brand by Tapping into Nativism. Staten Island Nativism, That Is.
Notable Health Care Advertising
// By Peter Hochstein //
Old and familiar hospital names sometimes die hard. A case in point:
In 2007, the former Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center in New York’s borough of Staten Island changed its name to Richmond University Medical Center. Three years later, the hospital hired Wax Custom Communications of Miami, Florida. The assignment was to reinforce the name change and help build patient traffic for its major service lines for what is currently a 470-bed hospital treating 234,735 outpatients annually.
Bill Wax, president and founder of the agency, recalls getting off the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan and climbing into a radio taxi. He asked the driver to take him to his client, Richmond University Medical Center. “Sure,” said the driver. He picked up his microphone and told his dispatcher, “Hey, I’m taking a passenger over to Saint Vinny’s.”