Maryland hospitals launch digital marketing effort

JoinMdHealth campaign to encourage students to join the health care field

The Maryland Hospital Association and the state’s 60 hospitals and health systems launched a digital marketing campaign Monday to encourage students and others seeking new opportunities to join the health care field.

The campaign, slugged as JoinMdHealth, includes outreach on social media, as well as a website that lists open health care jobs across the state, education requirements for certain hospital jobs and advice on how to afford higher education.

The marketing effort was inspired by historic workforce shortages in the health care field, the Maryland Hospital Association said in a news release.

The association advocates for the 60 nonprofit hospitals and health systems in the state.

In Maryland, there is a shortage of 5,000 full-time registered nurses and 4,000 licensed practical nurses, according to a 2022 GlobalData report commissioned by the Maryland Hospital Association. The report predicted that shortages could double or even triple by 2035, if nothing changes.

“Maryland hospitals and health systems are facing the most critical staffing shortage in recent memory,” said Bob Atlas, the hospital association’s president and CEO, in the news release. “Our members inspired this campaign — aimed at addressing their primary challenge, bolstering their workforce.”

The Maryland Hospital Association is partnering with Mission, a Baltimore-based marketing agency, for a five-month pilot program with a “nominal investment,” spokeswoman Amy Goodwin said in an email.

The organization hopes to eventually partner with other groups to increase the reach of the campaign, she added.

Launching a marketing campaign to recruit people to the health care field was one of the recommendations of the hospital association’s workforce task force, which convened in November 2021.

Hospital careers aren’t just for people who are “science-minded,” the campaign’s website says. They’re also for the “creative caregivers” and everyone in between.

“Whether you lead with your head, your hands, or your heart, a hospital is a terrific place to work,” said Edward Lovern, president and CEO of Ascension Saint Agnes and the chairman of the Maryland Hospital Association task force.