Media Resources

At Beacon Health System we require that all media inquiries come through the Beacon Corporate Communications Department. All requests for information, including: interviews, photographs, live shots, b-roll, statements, etc., about Beacon Health System and all affiliated practices, must be cleared first through Corporate Communications. Please understand that all Beacon departments have been trained to refer media calls to our department.

We would prefer that media call us before coming to any Beacon facility or property to shoot footage, regardless of whether you plan to interview anyone. Patient privacy is of top concern to us, and therefore we require media to be escorted while on any Beacon property.

How to Contact Us

Our office is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If there is an emergency situation after hours, please call the Elkhart General Hospital switchboard at 574.294.2621 or the Memorial Hospital switchboard at 574.647.1000. The switchboard will page the Nursing Supervisor on call.

Heidi Prescott
Director, Corporate Communications
Phone: 574.647.3001
Cell: 574.807.2884
gro.metsyshtlaehnocaeb@ttocserph

Media Relations Policy

To effectively facilitate the requests of media reporting on news and events at Beacon Health System, the Beacon Health System Corporate Communications Department has established the following guidelines for reporters requesting information or interviews:

• Media must arrange all interviews and photo shoots with Beacon Health System staff or patients in advance through the Beacon Health System Corporate Communications Department.
• To ensure confidentiality, privacy, and appropriate sensitivity to patients and families, reporters, film crews, and photographers must always be accompanied by a Corporate Communications Department staff person while on at Beacon Health System property or facility.
• Media will be met by a Corporate Communications Department staff at a designated spot and escorted to the appropriate location at the Beacon Health System property or facility
• No patient information other than a one-word condition description is made available to the media. No information will be released on patients who are not identified by name by the media.
• Patients who agree to be interviewed or filmed at a Beacon Health System property or facility must sign a release form that is placed into the patient’s file. Forms are available from the Beacon Health System Corporate Communications Department.

Patient Conditions and Privacy

To obtain a patient’s condition, contact the Beacon Health System Corporate Communications Department at 574.647.3001 or 574.647.3234.

• Members of the media seeking a patient condition must provide the patient’s full name and correct spelling.
• To protect patient confidentiality, Beacon Health System does not release any patient information other than a one-word condition description as defined by the American Hospital Association.
• If a patient requests that their condition remain restricted, the Health System will not release any information nor confirm that the patient is being cared for at the Health System.
• No information about a patient who has died at a Health System facility may be released without the authorization of next of kin. Once next of kin has been notified, only confirmation of death can be provided, not time or date of death.

Definition of General Patient Conditions

According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the word “stable” is not used as a condition.

The HIPAA requires all hospitals to ask permission from each patient, or his or her legal representative, to disclose information about the patient’s medical condition. Under HIPAA, a patient may exercise his or her right to refuse or limit the release of this information.

The Beacon Health System Corporate Communications Department works directly with the media to provide accurate and timely information about patients’ conditions, while also respecting patients’ wishes and complying with HIPAA privacy regulations. To that end, the Health System does not release information on patients whose injuries may have resulted from domestic abuse or violent crime, or have requested to be placed on a Do Not Report list.

• Undetermined – Patient is awaiting physician and/or assessment.
• Good – Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Expected outcome is excellent.
• Fair – Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is responding to treatment. Expected outcome is favorable.
• Serious – Vital signs are stable at present. Patient is acutely ill. Expected outcome is unpredictable.
• Critical – Vital signs are unstable. Expected outcome is unpredictable.