A private psychiatric hospital in Sydney was achieving excellent results with its clients - but its advertising campaign was not reaching the right audience.
| Entrepreneur |
Lynne Fishwick, Chief Executive |
| Company |
South Pacific Private |
| Business type |
Residential treatment centre for people with addictions and emotional disorders |
| Founded |
1993 |
| Employees |
64 staff (35 full-time equivalents) |
| Head office |
Curl Curl, Sydney, NSW |
| Contact details |
+61 2 9905 3667 |
Key Learning Points |
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Advertising
Does your service need advertising or communicating? Analyse where your clients come from - and then consider every way to reach them.
Networking
Real networking is not done at cocktail parties; it is about training newcomers to your industry, and providing useful information and education to potential clients or referees.
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The South Pacific Private Hospital Story
In the early 1990s, Bill and Lorraine Wood, a successful Sydney business couple, needed help to tackle some difficult family emotional issues and addictions. They could not find effective treatment in Australia so, in desperation, they travelled to the now famous treatment centre to the stars, The Meadows, in Arizona in the United States. The trip changed their lives - and spawned a new business.
The Meadows' six-week residential program is based on the Minnesota therapeutic community model of care, using a 12-step program and family systems therapy. It had such profoundly positive effects on Bill, Lorraine and their families that they decided to establish a treatment centre based on the model in Sydney.
In 1993, the Woods bought Rockcastle Private Hospital at Curl Curl on Sydney’s northern beaches. They renamed it South Pacific Private Hospital (SPP) and turned it into a treatment centre for addictions and emotional issues such as eating disorders, depression, gambling and relationship problems. Unlike many psychiatric in-patient programs that are based on cognitive behavioural techniques, SPP treats underlying issues as well as the presenting problem. It emphasises the healing effects of the therapeutic community, group therapy and the inclusion of family members in the treatment program.
SPP accommodates 33 clients and has a team of doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, nurses and allied health-care workers.
The Challenge
When SPP’s CEO, Lynne Fishwick, started at the hospital about five years ago, she found an inwardly focused organisation that was achieving great results .. but not telling the world about it. Yes, SPP advertised - it put dollars into state and national ad campaigns - but Fishwick felt it got a small marketing bang for its spending. Something had to be done, but what?
The Solution
Fishwick reviewed SPP’s marketing program and uncovered a surprising statistic. Despite its ad campaigns in media in NSW and some national media, 84% of its clients lived within a 40-kilometre radius of the hospital. Much of its marketing effort was not concentrated in the area that produced most of its clients.
Buying ads was an easy - and ineffective - substitute for face-to-face presentations to the people most likely to refer clients: health workers. They needed to be made aware of SPP and its successful approach to dealing with difficult psychological issues. Fishwick thought personal contacts would be better than a slick ad campaign.
SPP now invests heavily in going out and speaking to groups of health professionals, making them aware of its unique services. John Falcon, SPP’s clinical director, spends more of his time speaking about the hospital’s program than working within it. He gives lectures and presentations to health professionals, support groups and tertiary institutions.
The hospital now invites professional groups such as psychologists to visit SPP and see how its program works. SPP has also improved its profile and reputation by offering training opportunities to professional groups and students. For example, general practitioners can receive continuing education and development points by participating in SPP’s clinical audits.
SPP has expanded its intern program by offering work experience and possible future employment to psychology students from Macquarie University and counselling students from three training colleges. It also holds monthly introductory sessions for newly qualified psychologists and fortnightly ones for practising therapists who are interested in the work being done at SPP.
Fishwick says that SPP’s real strength is its long-term follow-up. After discharge from the residential program, clients attend day programs at SPP over the following three weeks, and then a weekly relapse prevention group for another ten weeks.
The Result
SPP has gained recognition for the quality of its work through accreditation with the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. It also participated in an independent assessment by the Strategic Planning Group for Private Psychiatric Services, which benchmarked SPP’s program against 43 other private psychiatric facilities with a similar patient mix. On a measure of change between admission and discharge, SPP was in the top five. SPP prides itself on the long-term success of its program. Re-admission rates are low and all 33 beds are frequently full.