With paralyzing snowfalls hitting the Washington D.C. area last night, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital sent out a special plea for help.  It’s one of the most unique uses of Twitter I’ve seen by a healthcare organization and it appears to have done the trick!

This is a great illustration of what a hospital, or any organization for that matter, can do when they’re genuinely engaging with their community through social media.  Organizations using social media just to broadcast their message or sell things are missing out on the true value.  Social media sites are, by nature, social.  Social engagement builds bonds which transcend any given business transaction.

Adventist HealthCare has a great connection with the community it serves.  This certainly began long before Twitter. However, the relationship that Adventist HealthCare has with the community members that it interacts with through social media is a little bit special and unique.  Even while asking for something from volunteers as they did this week, it helps to strengthen the bonds of mutual dependency and support.

What are some examples that you’ve seen of healthcare organizations working to interact and build community bonds?