Day Kimball Healthcare (DKH) took the top prize for excellence in healthcare communications at the New England Society for Healthcare Communications’ (NESHCo) annual Lamplighter Awards, held June 1 in Providence. DKH’s “I AM New Day” legislative advocacy campaign was awarded Best in New England and was among 381 entries submitted by 58 New England hospitals, healthcare facilities and marketing/advertising agencies. The campaign also won the top award in its category of Cause/Social Marketing Campaign Produced In-House.

The Lamplighters were established to showcase and honor excellence in healthcare communications throughout the New England region. The 2016 competition entries were judged by the Georgia Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations, Mississippi Society for Healthcare Marketing and Public Relations, Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society, and Louisiana Society of Hospital Public Relations and Marketing.

"A gutsy campaign and you made it work," one judge commented on DKH’s campaign. "It was simple and informative with an effective message. The campaign had great execution to a targeted audience."

The campaign ran from April through December of 2015 and employed grassroots advocacy, public relations, social media and advertising in a successful effort to prevent unprecedented cuts to DKH’s hospital funding, not just once but twice.

“It’s a challenging time in healthcare today and the last year has been especially so for hospitals and health systems in Connecticut,” said DKH Director of Marketing and Communications Laura Dunn. “For Day Kimball in particular as a small independent community health system, this campaign was really a ‘David and Goliath’ story of sorts. Its success serves as a testament to the dedication and passion that our staff has for serving our community, as well as our community’s strong support and recognition of the critical role Day Kimball plays in the health and wellness of our region.”

DKH President and CEO Robert Smanik echoed that statement, saying, “The very active and vocal support that our employees, our community and our local legislators demonstrated throughout this campaign was just extraordinary. It all comes back to what makes Day Kimball different and worth protecting in the first place, and that’s the people. We couldn’t be more proud of this honor or more thankful to all in our community whose support allowed this campaign to be such a success.”

Pictured above - Sara Brandon and Laura Dunn, the marketing communications team responsible for the I AM New Day campaign, accept the Best in New England and Gold Lamplighter Awards on behalf of Day Kimball Healthcare.