The Challenge
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) landscape in New Hampshire New Hampshire's EMS landscape faced severe challenges, with systemic issues shutting down one ambulance company, limiting services for others, and threatening the sustainability of the industry as a whole. To prevent a statewide EMS system failure required urgent, comprehensive reforms and potential government intervention.
Addressing these challenges required achieving consensus among a diverse set of stakeholders with complex and at times competing interests, including for-profit and nonprofit organizations, fire departments, hospitals, professional associations, and a fragmented group of lawmakers, in order to rally for meaningful policy change at the state level.
The Opportunity
The complexity of this issue gave Pinkston the opportunity to go beyond the traditional public relations and media strategy. To best illustrate the urgency of this issue to the public, our team began an in-depth research process to generate a report, “The State of Emergency in New Hampshire.”
During our research process, we engaged with a wide array of stakeholders – including EMS ambulance companies, municipal fire chiefs, hospital administrators, skilled nursing facilities and government officials – to understand their perspective on EMS in New Hampshire, fostering greater trust and alignment. We also conducted a survey of front-line staff, ensuring that their voices, experiences and suggestions were reflected in the report – and thus, would be represented in any policy change that it would bring about. The final report combined qualitative and quantitative data with expert analysis and stakeholder input to provide a comprehensive overview of the true extent of the issue New Hampshire’s EMS sector was facing. The report findings elucidated and prioritized the issues plaguing EMS in New Hampshire and served as a diagnostic base for exploring potential solutions.
The research process and resulting report helped galvanize a group of stakeholders to advocate for change. The report served as a catalyst for meetings with legislators, empowering them to implement the necessary systemic changes by providing a foundation of established facts and uniting aligned stakeholders for swift action.
Our Strategic Approach
Pinkston crafted a strategy that engaged the diverse group of stakeholders and the public. Through an earned media campaign, our team bolstered public awareness of this issue to increase constituent engagement, unify stakeholders and concentrate the attention of decision-makers.
More specifically, our team created and disseminated a comprehensive research report which included in-depth interviews with pivotal stakeholders, a survey encompassing all EMS stakeholder groups and trend data concerning the call volume of New Hampshire's EMS and population demographics. Pinkston distributed this report to local media channels, such as TV stations and newspapers, with significant viewership and readership from residents and legislators who would have the most impact and investment in this issue.
Additionally, our team released the report directly through the New Hampshire Ambulance Association so it could be readily shared with state legislators, regulatory committees, professional associations and other outlets to enhance its reach and impact – and drive urgent action.
The Outcomes
The ultimate objective of this engagement was to urge rapid legislative action to address the critical issues within New Hampshire EMS services. This goal was realized just one month after the report was released, when the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted to pass an unprecedented increase in the Medicaid rate for ambulance transportation.
Pinkston achieved this outcome by organizing media interviews coinciding with the report's launch to attract statewide attention to the precarious state of EMS services in New Hampshire. This media effort included both broadcast and print interviews featuring Justin Van Etten, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Ambulance Association, discussing the report's findings and New Hampshire EMS services at large. Nearly all impactful media outlets featured the report, including the statewide outlets Union Leader, The Concord Monitor, WMUR-TV, and New England Cable News. The report achieved national attention when Yahoo! News republished the Union Leader’s piece.