Senior Living Crisis Response

Challenge: A senior living operator was facing a crisis over a situation at one of its communities in which a resident passed away after an altercation with another resident suffering from dementia. The situation around the matter was very sensitive. Gray Ryan Communications was brought in to assist after the family of the deceased resident sued the senior living operator and held a press conference to announce the lawsuit. Our team crafted a comprehensive plan in a short period of time designed to mitigate the fallout from the lawsuit and protect the reputation of the operator and community.

Solution: Gray Ryan Communications outlined specific tactics and talking points to be used for a response to the lawsuit and subsequent media inquiries. This involved communicating directly with the family members of existing residents through personalized phone calls from executives, releasing a video response to the lawsuit for media, and outlining talking points for team members to use when speaking with prospective residents/family members.

Bottom Line: The strategy mitigated the negative fallout from the lawsuit by communicating specifics (when possible) about the situation that occurred without violating HIPAA. The personalized approach to speaking with family members and reporters created opportunities to provide those individuals with a greater picture of the situation rather than a blanket statement. Within a month, the media fervor over the lawsuit had dissipated.