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Ian Petty

In Firm News

Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc. Grows Team by 20 Percent

Firm News

Firm expands across all practices as healthcare providers endure significant communications challenges

National healthcare communications consultancy Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc., expanded its full-time team by 20 percent over the course of 2020, President and CEO David Jarrard announced in a year-end recap. With 12 new hires, plus the addition of five of-counsel professionals, the firm’s growth and acquisition by The Chartis Group highlighted the critical communications needs hospitals, health systems and health services companies experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two vice presidents and two associate vice presidents headline the new team members. They are:

Emily Shirden

Emily Shirden
Vice President, National & Academic Health System Practice

Shirden joined Jarrard from Finn Partners, where she led thought leadership, issues management and integrated communications programs with a strong focus on analytics and measurement.

Kristen Nicholson
Vice President of Business Development, Growth Services Team

Nicholson has 20-plus years in the healthcare industry where she has focused on growth and development for an array of companies. Immediately prior to joining Jarrard Inc., she was senior vice president of account management for Shearwater Health.

Teresa Hicks

Teresa Hicks
Associate Vice President, National & Academic Health System Practice

Hicks is a former journalist who most recently led communications strategy for Ballad Health, taking the organization through a groundbreaking health system merger and subsequent integration, helping achieve regulatory approval in two states and marshalling community support.

Dan Schlacter

Dan Schlacter
Associate Vice President, Health Services Practice

Schlacter has more than 15 years of integrated marketing and communications agency experience. His background includes work with clients in health IT, life sciences, healthcare consultancies, provider services, industry organizations and patient advocate groups. Prior to joining Jarrard Inc., Schacter was a senior account supervisor with MP&F Strategic Communications.

“This year, perhaps more than any other, has reinforced the value of clear and strategic communications for healthcare providers of all types,” Jarrard said.

“We know how difficult it has been for executives and Marcom teams as they’ve been faced with relentless pressure and questions from policy-makers, the media and an often-skeptical public, all while working to fulfill their mission of delivering care under extraordinarily challenging circumstances. We have been proud to work alongside so many of these organizations to develop the strategies needed to bring people together as society confronts the coronavirus.”

Expansion occurred across the firm’s National & Academic Health System Practice, Regional Health Systems Practice and Health Services Practice as well as its Growth Services Team and client-focused Digital Services Team.

“Healthcare has changed in so many ways this year, and yet, our experience indicates that the foundational principles and underlying trends have not – they’ve simply accelerated,” said Jarrard. “Our new colleagues bring a wealth of experience in everything from marketing strategy to crisis communications, allowing us to help clients lead and shape the future of healthcare as we emerge from the pandemic and take stock of the many lessons learned.”

Additional New Team Members:

  • Jon Hughes, Senior Managing Advisor, National & Academic Health System Practice. Hughes is a licensed psychotherapist and change management expert who most recently led the workforce health and safety team at Northwestern Medicine.
  • Yolanda James, Senior Managing Advisor, National & Academic Health System Practice. James has a deep background in issue navigation and public relations. A veteran of several hospitals and health systems, she joined Jarrard Inc. following time as director of the Nashville Health Care Council’s Fellows program and PR director for the Tennessee Hospital Association.
  • Kristen Stocker Holder, Managing Advisor, National & Academic Health System Practice. Stocker Holder is a change management specialist who came to Jarrard Inc. from roles in community advocacy.
  • Josh Byrd, Senior Graphic Designer, Growth Services Team. Byrd is a digital communications specialist who brings videos, websites and designs to life for Jarrard Inc. and its clients. Byrd previously served as an art director and director of media production at advertising firm Maris, West & Baker.
  • Will Roberts, Senior Advisor, Regional Practice. Having represented academic medical institutions, community-based healthcare providers and health policy strategists, Roberts brings a strong background in policy and regulation to his work in change management and media relations. Prior to joining Jarrard Inc., he worked in the health practice of DVL Seigenthaler/ Finn Partners.
  • Allie Gross, Advisor, National & Academic Health System Practice. An award-winning journalist, Gross applies her background in media, writing and communications to help steer national and academic health systems through challenging transitions and change management initiatives. Gross most recently worked as a reporter at the Jackson Hole News&Guide.
  • Chelsea Schulz, Advisor, National & Academic Health System Practice. Schulz focuses on strategic planning and content development. She comes to Jarrard Inc. from several competitive internships, including HCA’s Sarah Cannon Cancer Research Institute, where she worked on strategic implementation plans and process improvement initiatives.
  • Hilary Sloan, Advisor, Health Services Practice / Digital Services. Sloan brings a media background to her role coordinating digital projects for the firm and its clients. Prior to joining Jarrard Inc., Sloan served as the operations intern for Velocity Collective LLC, a leadership business consultancy in Nashville, Tennessee.

New Of-Counsels:

  • David C. Pate, M.D., J.D.: Pate is an accomplished internist, lawyer and health system executive who is the immediate past president and chief executive officer of St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho where he led the evolution to clinical integration, accountable care and a physician-led delivery system. He joined St. Luke’s in 2009, following executive positions with St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System in Houston.
  • Denise Venditti, DNP, RN: Venditti joined Jarrard Inc. with 25 years in patient experience, nursing leadership and hospital operations. Prior to joining the firm, she served as the vice president of patient experience for Geisinger Health System. In her time at Geisinger, she also worked as associate vice president of nursing, direction of operations, and operations manager.
  • Pete Lawson: Lawson has spent four decades in healthcare and served as CEO at multiple hospitals. Prior to founding his own healthcare operations consultancy and joining Jarrard Inc., he was managing director and co-lead of hospital M&A for Raymond James.
  • Ryder McNeal: McNeal is a 30-year veteran of healthcare sales. Prior to his affiliation with the firm, he served as chief growth officer for Physicians Equity Resource Advisors, LLC., a boutique consulting firm headquartered in New York, and had roles in development with TeamHealth, DaVita and Sound Physicians.
  • Eric Hoffman: Hoffman is an award-winning public affairs professional with a career that includes more than 20 years at Edelman and Weber Shandwick, plus time on Capitol Hill working for political candidates and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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In COVID-19, High Stakes, Issue Navigation

Confronting the New COVID-19 Surge: 5 Communications Considerations for Healthcare Leaders

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With the holidays upon us, healthcare leaders and workers are facing a nightmare scenario: Already high COVID infections will surge to new heights in the wake of holidays gatherings.

Healthcare workers who are already exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally will be left to care for patients who did not heed the warnings of public health officials. And healthcare leaders face a daunting array of high-stakes communications challenges that must be thoughtfully navigated.

We are focusing our attention on five areas where communications can help your organization confront the COVID-19 surge and prepare for other imminent milestones:

  • Workforce resiliency and support. Healthcare workers are drained. To make matters worse, many people continue to ignore public health recommendations that would help limit the spread of the virus. That leaves already-exhausted healthcare workers to deal with the consequences – potentially even including rationing of care. Healthcare leaders need to make sure their employees have access to mental health resources. We are helping organizations take stock of their employees and provide them with much needed support. Our new volume of The Art of Change addresses this critical issue, with both high-level context and practical insights. (We will continue to add to this volume over the course of the next month as we evaluate the pandemic’s ongoing toll on our employees.)
  • Prepare communications for the most likely COVID scenarios. It’s a bit of déjà vu for healthcare leaders: needing to prepare communications for suspending services, limiting visitation, staffing shortages, calling in COVID-19-positive but asymptomatic caregivers to work, capacity issues, facility closures, remote work and even the possibility of rationing care. We can help you prepare for these scenarios and others by proactively developing talking points, FAQs, memos, media materials and more.
  • Share your safety message. Patients need to feel safe so that life-saving care is not delayed. We are helping healthcare organizations develop and share their safety message by highlighting tactics like mask requirements, isolation of COVID patients, enhanced cleaning procedures, etc. Patients need to continue hearing these messages.
  • Be the healthcare voice of authority in your community. With the election over and COVID infections surging, the media is again focusing on the virus. Use media interest to your advantage. We are working with clients to provide regular media and community leaders briefings. This will rightly position your organization as the community healthcare expert and will give you the ability to lay the groundwork for strategic issues like public health, your caregivers’ commitment and additional government funding.
  • Develop a communications strategy for the next hot button issues: vaccine distribution and the January 1 CMS price transparency rule. In a matter of weeks your organization will be tasked with sharing information about these issues. We are working with clients to develop messages for internal and external audiences, communications toolkits with talking points, FAQs memos, media statement and communications cadences.

We know the challenges you face are daunting, and we are here to help.

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In High Stakes, Issue Navigation

Safe to Return: Behavioral Health and Pandemic Anxiety

A magazine with an up-close image of a face wearing a mask with text that reads "Safe to Return"

We are living in a pivotal moment for healthcare organizations as they face an unprecedented, existential threat.

Today’s healthcare leaders – from clinicians to executives – face a vexing challenge: how to successfully lead their organizations, patients and communities through a global pandemic. There is great opportunity in making changes to fulfill their missions and provide care and support to patients, the public and employees. A new approach to influencing and driving change is needed – an approach built from established clinical principles combined with effective communications practices.

Since behavioral health clinicians work daily to reduce patients’ anxiety and help them feel comfortable in specific situations, we turned to this field for insight. In addition to asking for ways to address pandemic-inspired anxiety and fear, we have captured their actionable advice on how healthcare leaders can most effectively guide their organizations today.

Read the white paper

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In Firm News

Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock Joins The Chartis Group

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Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc., a Nashville-based strategic communications and change management firm serving the healthcare industry, announced today that it had been acquired by The Chartis Group, a leading healthcare advisory and analytics firm.

Founded in 2006, award-winning Jarrard Inc. ranks among the top 10 healthcare communications firms in the nation. Specializing in areas such as issue navigation, transformation adoption, change management, strategic positioning and M&A, Jarrard has served more than 500 healthcare provider clients.

Jarrard joins Chartis at a time of great promise and challenge in the nation’s healthcare delivery landscape. US hospitals, health systems and other providers are confronted with dynamic operational, clinical and financial challenges while simultaneously being presented with unlimited opportunities for disruption and innovation. In both cases, organizations are facing the need to evolve and continue to grow and transform – which requires not only new strategic, clinical, digital and operating models – but also the ability to ensure their effective implementation and adoption. To that end, Jarrard brings great complementary strengths to Chartis.

“The power of what our two organizations can do together to help clients fully achieve their strategic and operational objectives could not be greater,” said Ken Graboys, CEO of The Chartis Group. “We believe successful, sustainable transformation requires effective change management and communications. By partnering with Jarrard, we can more effectively deliver results for our clients and the healthcare industry at large.”

“We are combining the power of effective communications with the exceptional strategic, financial, technological and operational expertise of Chartis,” said David Jarrard, CEO of Jarrard Inc. “We are bringing together the art and the science of change to a rapidly-evolving industry and in service to a mission – shared by both organizations – to make healthcare better.”

The acquisition of Jarrard furthers Chartis’ commitment to providing US healthcare providers best-in-class advisory capabilities. Under the partnership, like other sister companies, Jarrard retains its brand, culture, leadership and approach to client service, while being augmented by the expertise and resources of Chartis. The acquisition of Jarrard follows Chartis’ acquisition of The Greeley Company in 2019 and Oncology Solutions in 2018.

PALAZZO served as exclusive financial advisor to Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock Inc. in this transaction.

About Jarrard Inc. 
With offices in Nashville, Tenn. and Chicago, Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc. is a U.S. top 10 strategic communications consulting firm for the nation’s leading healthcare providers experiencing significant change, challenge or opportunity. Founded in 2006, the firm has worked with more than 500 clients in 45 states and has led communications and political strategy for $60 billion in announced M&A and partnership transactions. The firm specializes in M&A, change management, issue navigation and strategic positioning, and has recently worked alongside 75-plus healthcare organizations navigating the impact of COVID-19. For more information, visit jarrardinc.com.

About The Chartis Group
The Chartis Group® (Chartis) provides comprehensive advisory services and analytics to the healthcare industry. With an unparalleled depth of expertise in strategic planning, performance excellence, informatics and technology, digital and emerging technologies, and health analytics, Chartis helps leading academic medical centers, integrated delivery networks, children’s hospitals and healthcare service organizations achieve transformative results. Chartis has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.chartis.com.

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