True transparency in hospital PR campaigns

GOMER blog, which modestly refers to itself as the earth's finest medical satire news site, provides the ultimate in hospital transparency in this recent post, Hospitals Unleash New, Brutally Honest Slogans.

Here are excerpts:

Forget the days of the compassionate and uplifting slogans like “A Passion for Healing,” “Because Your Life Matters,” or “Every Day, a New Discovery.” With record numbers of nurses and doctors burning out and hospitals busting at the seams with sicker and sicker patients, hospitals are waving their white flags and this is being reflected in new, brutally-honest slogans to deter patients from seeking care.

The first hospital to make the change is New York Medical Center, who earlier this month changed their decades-old slogan of “Advanced Medicine, Trusted Care” to “Death is Inevitable”.

Intentionally or not, the site then reflected the faddism that characterizes hospital advertising compaigns:

Other New York hospitals were quick to follow suit, calling the move “brilliant” and “revolutionary.”

But geographic diversity is evident:

In the Southeast, new hospital slogans are financially motivated. 

In the Midwest, slogans show a little more frustration.  

In the Southwest, hospitals have taken a different angle by trying to remain modest at best while focusing on flaws as a major deterrent to patient care.

And the body politic jumps on the bandwagon, just like in real life:

“This is an important moment in our country’s history,” said President Obama at the White House, with both Democrats and Republicans united in support behind him. “This is outside-the-box thinking at its finest.  What better way to decrease healthcare costs than by decreasing healthcare access and decreasing patient care across the board.”