Are we seeing a turf battle between Kettering Health Network and Premier? Not in acquiring patients- but in buying football fields?

Donation ‘the right thing to do’
One way to look at Kettering Health Network’s $1 million contribution toward the rebirth of Dayton schools-owned Welcome Stadium is as an investment in marketing.

Kettering’s president, Fred Manchur, doesn’t look at it that way.
“This really doesn’t make business sense,” he said Tuesday, March 25.

Sports stadiums in suburbs such as Centerville and Springboro may be attracting big dollar corporate sponsorship from other area hospital systems seeking to promote their brands, but having Kettering’s name on the field at the city’s showcase stadium really did not add up, Manchur said.

As a marketing or advertising vehicle, the $1 million contribution could not be cost-justified, he said. But part of Kettering’s mission is to serve its community and for more than two decades, that has included supporting the city schools’ athletic programs with sports medicine, even providing discounted or free treatment to needy city athletes.

In the context of the hospital’s greater mission, the gift made sense, Manchur said: “You have to take away the business aspect and look at what is the right thing to do.”

First we had Premier doing fields in South suburbs, not, we have KHN sending a shot right across the river at Premier. Don’t believe for a minute that this is a bad business deal.

Buying ads on TV is an expensive way to reach customers- sticking a permanent billboard on Welcome Stadium, right next to UD arena for X years isn’t a bad deal at all. Plus, being able to brag about how good of a corporate citizen you are…

Goodwill is one thing hospitals depend on for getting customers. Community standing, perceived as the more “caring” organization is worth way more than another bad billboard on I-75 which could cost $60K a year.

Nope, this is shrewd marketing at work. Too bad, it’s more about marketing than actually providing health care anymore.