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UPMC in the news

Media Relations plays critical role in telling UPMC’s story

When it comes to promoting UPMC’s accomplishments, educating consumers, and protecting the interests of our organization, UPMC Media Relations provides support and advocacy.

As the “press office” of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, Media Relations develops and “pitches” stories to local, national, and international media outlets. UPMC’s media experts gather facts, prepare news releases, arrange interviews, and manage media events and press conferences. The team also manages a comprehensive website, updated daily, that provides a rich source of medical information for journalists, including news releases, background information, media kits, photos, and a topical and alphabetical list of experts.

In Fiscal Year 2008, UPMC Media Relations helped generate 16,921 news stories, with 329 in top-tier media, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Newsweek.

“Among leading health systems nationally, UPMC ranks fifth in major print media exposure,” says Paul C. Wood, vice president, UPMC Public Relations. “Each day, the 11-member Media Relations team assists departments and divisions at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences in promoting their services and health care innovations, as well as communicating UPMC’s vital role in local, national, and international communities.”

Recently, The New York Times Magazine featured the treatment and study at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic’s Child and Adolescent Bipolar Services Clinic in a cover story. For a major article about the economic recession in Time, UPMC was featured as a model of innovation and for the role it has played in helping retool the western Pennsylvania region for economic survival. In both instances, Media Relations representatives were instrumental in calling attention to UPMC, building UPMC’s and Pittsburgh’s reputations, and helping to attract patients, physicians, and new residents to our city and health system.

On the record

When contacted or approached by media, always contact Media Relations first. Only Media Relations has the authority to commit UPMC to interviews or joint press releases with partners. Photography, filming, or recording at UPMC facilities or arrangements for case studies, advertising, or promotions must be authorized for the protection of patients, staff, and the entire UPMC community, as outlined in UPMC’s Media Relations policy HS-PR1102, which can be viewed on Infonet.

If a reporter contacts you, your faculty, or staff directly, reserve any comment (even “off the record”) until you’ve first spoken with Media Relations and they’ve decided that doing an interview is appropriate. Interviews are opportunities to communicate key messages through the media to a large audience. Media Relations representatives can prepare staff for important interviews and provide helpful information about the journalist, his or her media outlet, and the story angle. Journalists want prepared, succinct spokespeople with substantive messages, statistics, and sound bites.

If you or your department are part of a media-worthy event, research breakthrough, clinical advance, or trend in your field, or would like to publicize significant awards and grants, Media Relations can help. Visit the Media Relations page on www.upmc.com for a listing of contacts and their beats. To contact Media Relations, call 412-647-3555. A Media Relations representative is also on-call 24 hours a day and can be reached through the hospital operator.