New to the Area? Invite the Neighbors Over

Often, neighbors welcome people who’ve just moved into the neighborhood by dropping by with a basket of muffins or inviting them over for coffee. Castleview Hospital in Price, UT is turning that on its ear, though, by inviting residents living near its new urgent care center over for an open house. The family-friendly festivities will start right after a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, officially opening the site to the public. Staff will be on hand to meet their new neighbors—all potential patients—and explain the range of complaints an urgent care center is prepared to address, and give guests a tour of the facilities. The center will start taking in patients for care the day after the event. Castleview is also inviting local business operators as it seeks to get its occupational medicine program going, so will be covering the breadth of services it offers to help care for workers and to screen potential new hires. In other public-focused businesses (think car dealerships and grocery stores), celebrating a new opening can often be a strictly promotional effort, but with urgent care the opportunity to educate potential patients so they become loyal customers makes the stakes just that much higher. Further, setting your center apart from others down the road by making an effort to literally meet the neighbors can go a long way toward creating a favorable first impression and top-of-mind awareness the next time immediate care is needed.