Memoirs from the day Dr. Koop came to visit.MEMOIRS FROM THE DAY DR. KOOP CAME TO VISIT I'm going to tell you what it was like to spend a month preparing for an invasion by a national TV crew and what it was like living through the nearly 13 hours they were inside Century City Hospital in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . This is the good, the bad and the ugly of media relations, along with a few lessons in Murphy's Law (humour) Murphy's Law - (Or "Sod's Law") The correct, *original* Murphy's Law reads: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it. . Ah, what memories! Hospital's Program Attracts Media Spotlight First, some background. Century City Hospital is a 195-bed hospital which takes care of many different kinds of patients. Many of those patients are elderly. Some of the hospital's extremely dedicated medical experts put together a one-of-a-kind center for the elderly called the Geriatric Day Hospital (GDH GDH Glucose Dehydrogenase GDH Group Diffie-Hellman GDH Gonzo Digimation Holdings (Tokyo, Japan marketing company) GDH Gas Ducted Heating (Australian property sales) GDH Ground Data Handling ). The only other center like it is in England. The GDH is the kind of warm, friendly place where elderly people come in the morning, get their own room for the day, have lunch, chat in the day room and see medical specialists who come to them. No confusing elevators or parking lots. These doctors and others come to the patients. And at the end of the day, it's like work. Everyone goes home. This medical concept is extraordinary in its simplicity. And in other ways too...its cost effectiveness, its ability to keep elderly patients out of nursing homes and its quality of care. The GDH has always been the object of much local publicity in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, but nationally it just never caught on. Until June 1990. One phone call turned our ongoing desire for national visibility into a reality. Word of the good work at the GDH had apparently spread and the producers of an NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. five-part television series on American health American Health Inc. is a company that manufactures health supplements. It is located in Holbrook, New York. One of its products is labeled the "Chewable Original Papaya Enzyme" with the attached registered trademark, "The 'After Meal Supplement'". care heard about it. Since one segment of the series was dedicated to geriatric medicine, they wanted to come film the GDH for a day. In addition, the host of this series was to be former US Surgeon General The U.S. Surgeon General is charged with the protection and advancement of health in the United States. Since the 1960s the surgeon general has become a highly visible federal public health official, speaking out against known health risks such as tobacco use, and promoting disease C. Everett Koop Charles Everett Koop, (born October 14 1916 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American physician. He served as the Surgeon General of the United States from 1982 to 1989, under Ronald Reagan's presidency. , and he would also visit the center the day of the filming and interview some of the staff. Getting Ready Was it all right with us?, the producer wanted to know. What was he, crazy? Of course, it was all right. It was more than all right, it was wonderful. Prior to the actual filming, endless preparations took place. First, we examined the geriatric unit itself. Last minute repairs were made to rooms, offices, ceilings and floors. Next, we planned food for the day - from breakfast, through lunch and on to lateday snacks. Another step included planning for the staffing needs for the day. Two communication experts were needed for this job - I was one, as PR counsel to the hospital, along with Marketing Director Deborah Ettinger. Additional hospital staff also was notified. Hospital engineers, security, parking and dietary personnel were advised of special needs for that day in June...just in case we needed them on a moment's notice. Finally, meetings were held with the GDH staff. We explained what was going to happen and that the producers wanted to capture real life in the unit, not something staged. Our advice was simple. Be yourselves. We also coordinated phone calls to nearly 20 patients coming in the day of the shoot, not only in hopes of finding a few who would not mind being filmed but also to keep the shoot day running smoothly. The Big Day With all the details in place - meals, parking, patients and staff taken care of - we anticipated the big day. The crew arrived about 7:30 am on Wednesday, June 20. As I got to the hospital early that morning, I noticed something odd. I couldn't enter the hospital parking lot, and I was re-routed to an alternate entrance. There were many construction workers along with trucks and equipment blocking the way. The delay behind me, I went up to the unit for the day. The five-person crew and I arrived about the same time. The producer, his assistant, Ettinger and I had a brief powwow powwow American Indian ceremony or gathering of various kinds. Powwows originally were healing ceremonies, but the word could also refer to exuberant celebrations, with dancing and singing, of success in hunting or victory in battle. before shooting began with the first patient. We also reviewed the events of the morning, which included several patient evaluations, chair dancing activities and a staff team meeting. We were off to the races. With everything lined up to start, Ettinger broke the news to me - the air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. was out, not only in the building but also in all of bustling bus·tle 1 intr. & tr.v. bus·tled, bus·tling, bus·tles To move or cause to move energetically and busily. n. Excited and often noisy activity; a stir. , business district of Century City. And, she added, it would be out for at least the next day, too. By 10 am, the filming was going great - cooperative patients and satisfied producer. It was outside the hospital that was surging with activity. For the next five hours, nearly every news crew in the city of Los Angeles
adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. interview there. But none came together...they came one after the other after the other. It was non-stop action. Planning Paid Off Early on we were glad that two people were staffing this day. Ettinger handled the outside TV crews. I handled the phone calls and inside filming. On reflection, it sounds a lot more organized than it was. The afternoon was a very exciting time. Dr. Koop arrived on the scene and proved to be one of the most genuine and charming people I had ever met. He sat down and talked to patients willingly. He greeted hospital executives with warmth and humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was . He took the time to thank all the staff members in the GDH for their hard work. In short, he made the day worthwhile. Before the day was over, Dr. Koop spent nearly three hours interviewing Century City Hospital's GDH experts on the future of geriatric medicine. Every time we thought he was finished, he found another aspect he wanted to cover. We were happy to accommodate. Finally, at 8 pm, the crew shot its final footage - the outside of the hospital, so they at least got the name right...I hope. It was a hot, sweaty sweat·y adj. sweat·i·er, sweat·i·est 1. Covered with or smelling of sweat. 2. Causing sweat: a sweaty job. , tense and productive day in June. But it all paid off. We planned well and we were prepared. We were pleasant in the face of adversity, and I believe our attitude was a bonus, too. And most of all, we had a great story to tell. As the producer told me at the end of the day, "I think we'll have to give you more time in the segment because we have so much good information to use." Ah, music to my tired, sweaty ears! PHOTO : Our advice was simple. Be yourselves. PHOTO : Koop with hospital administrator Peter Bastone and Lynne Morishita, geriatric nurse practitioner nurse practitioner n. Abbr. NP A registered nurse with special training for providing primary health care, including many tasks customarily performed by a physician. . |
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