California Prison Health Care Services

Branding Campaign

ASSESS

When a federal court ordered a Receiver to take over the California Prison Health Care Services (CPHCS), recruitment was only one of many challenges. Overcrowding, poor conditions, remote locations and housing some of the most notorious criminals made attracting new talent extremely difficult. CPHCS selected Bernard Hodes Group to create an innovative branding campaign to attract hundreds of much needed physicians. The campaign would then be expanded to include LVNs (Licensed Vocational Nurses), pharmacists and other health care professionals.

STRATEGIZE

Bernard Hodes conducted phone interviews with several key executives to gain an understanding of motivators for working in the California prison system. The majority of the health care staff joined out of a sense of compassion and all shared a common dedication to putting patients’ welfare first. Since the Receiver was already working on reforming multiple aspects of the system, “change” became the central part of the recruitment message being developed. The tagline created was “Changing Health Care from the Inside."

IMPLEMENT

With the support of a very progressive HR team, the “Five Reasons You Belong in Prison” campaign featured reasons ranging from helping those in need, to setting an example for prison health care, to receiving excellent benefits and compensation. The powerful message utilized jarring graphics of prison bars and chain link fences and a very raw and unique type font. The brand campaign was promoted using print, online, direct mail and job fairs, as well as viral marketing. And a new career site was created, which provided testimonials from staff and a searchable list of relevant conferences and job fairs.

MEASURE

CPHCS filled 87% of their physician positions and 92% of their nursing positions, totaling well over 3500 hires! The recruiting campaign will continue as CPHCS builds a new prison medical center and looks for new recruits to staff it.