Media Placements
This section includes a variety of media placements that I earned for clients. For each of these placements, I wrote the media pitch, developed talking points and media briefs and facilitated each interview with my client.
Buzzfeed
Client: Humanities Tennessee
"Here Are Some Great Virtual Book Events Happening This Week: Oct. 5-10"
October 4, 2020
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Kevin Kwan in conversation with Amy Tan; Rumaan Alam in conversation with Emma Straub; panels on cozy romances, "unlikable" teen girl protagonists, and Southern storytelling; and so much more.
The Tennessean
Client: Humanities Tennessee
"Southern Festival of Books 2020 goes virtual with authors
Yaa Gyasi, Erik Larson and Kiley Reid"
September 28, 2020
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The coronavirus pandemic threatened this year's Southern Festival of Books, but it did not cancel it.
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Instead, the 32nd iteration of Tennessee's famed literary event is moving its annual celebration of the written word online. The 11-day festival starts Thursday and anyone with an internet connection will be able to hear for free from a slate of authors, like bestsellers Yaa Gyasi, Erik Larson and Kiley Reid.
WKRN Nashville
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"Tennessee nursing shortage could pose risk to healthcare access"
October 3, 2021
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Tennessee is currently experiencing a nursing shortage that could pose a major risk to healthcare, especially in light of the pandemic.
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Tina Gerardi has been a nurse for 41 years. She says Tennessee’s current nursing shortage is unlike any nursing shortage she’s ever seen. If things don’t improve, she says the shortage could impact all areas of health care.
Nashville Post
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"TNA leveraging pandemic deregulation to end scope of practice"
March 22, 2021
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The Tennessee Nurses Association is again putting forward a long-debated bill that would remove physician oversight for advanced practice nurses, this time leaning on experience during the pandemic to pitch its passage.
Marketplace
Client: Applied Health Analytics
"Logistical challenges just beginning for nation’s vaccination drive"
January 18, 2021
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Right now, everyone has to return for a second dose to get the full protection. And Robert Chamberlain, co-founder of Nashville-based Applied Health Analytics, said it’s critical that if people get the Pfizer vaccine, they stick with Pfizer. Same for Moderna.
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“To make matters even more challenging, we have AstraZeneca getting ready to hit the market, followed by Johnson & Johnson,” he said. “We’re going to have four different manufacturers making available vaccines in the market, which is awesome, which is wonderful. But the management of it is going to be the challenge.”
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Chamberlain’s company has modified the flu-vaccination tracker it sells to health systems, called bMetrix, so it can be used for COVID-19, which is considerably more complex.
The Daily Memphian
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"Nurses want to do their jobs without physician oversight"
August 13, 2021
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More than three years ago, advanced-practice nurses and the doctors who supervise them in Tennessee agreed to try to work out their differences.
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They couldn’t.
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So, this year, for the fourth time since 2014, a battle is pitched in the Tennessee Legislature to allow nurse practitioners and other advanced-level nurses to work without physician oversight, including prescribing drugs.
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Similar laws, some with transition times, have passed in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
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The fight, led by the Tennessee Nurses Association, is designed to give nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, certified midwives and clinical nurse specialists the authority to practice without a supervising doctor’s authority.
WDEF Chattanooga
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"Tennessee Nurses face staffing shortages and
burn out during Covid-19 pandemic"
September 14, 2021
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The Tennessee Nurses Association says that before the pandemic hospitals were already facing a staffing shortage, but covid-19 has made the problem much worse. With hospitalizations rapidly increasing- nurses are overworked, overwhelmed, and burnt out.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a two-fold effect on the nursing industry. Nurses from the “baby boomer” generation, or those toward the end of their career, are choosing to retire. While others who are experiencing burnout are making career changes or taking new paths.
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“There’s no light at the end of the tunnel. That constant emotional churn is difficult. For some, it’s just been too much and they are leaving the profession. That’s really difficult to see. We have seen nurses move around within the profession but to actually leave the profession is tough. That’s a little bit different from what we are used to,” says Tina Gerardi, Executive Director of the Tennessee Nurses Association.
WRCB
Chattanooga
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"Flu numbers could be higher compared to 2020,
according to Tennessee Nurses Association"
November 5, 2021
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We are one month into the start of the flu season and health officials predict we could see a rise in flu cases compared to 2020.
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“I think we’re going to see a lot more flu this year unfortunately,” said Tennessee Nurses Association President Julie Hamm. “We are already starting to see some cases trickle in.”
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As a former nurse, Hamm says flu numbers will change as COVID numbers change this season.
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“Now that COVID numbers are decreasing, I think we’ll see flu starting to increase kind of at the same rate that COVID rates are decreasing,” said Hamm.
WKRN
Nashville
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"When to get your flu shot, COVID vaccine to be protected by the holidays"
November 8, 2021
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Last year, COVID-19 hit one of its peaks right after Thanksgiving. Health officials want to prevent that from happening again this year.
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Health officials are urging you to keep the public and your loved ones safe by having both your flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine before attending holiday gatherings.
“Typically, I do see cases go up after the holidays, sometimes even after Thanksgiving. But people who come in with the flu typically have a high fever. It is not unusual for me to hear them say I feel like I have been hit by a truck. My bones hurt, my skin hurts, my eyeballs hurt, my hair hurts. So it is just very debilitating for at least a week,” Tennessee Nurses Association past president Carla Kirkland said.
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According to the Tennessee Nurses Association, it’s okay to get your flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine in the same visit.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"Chattanooga area hospitals warned of looming COVID-19 crisis. Now their fears are coming true."
November 22, 2020
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Tina Gerardi, executive director of the Tennessee Nurses Association, said the coronavirus took longer to reach rural communities, whereas metro hospitals have been working around the clock since March. Even if a hospital hasn't reached capacity, staff at these larger hospitals are feeling the brunt of COVID-19 burnout, she said.
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"Those are the folks that aren't getting the relief, and those are the areas that are needing the staffing," Gerardi said. "It's not just nurses, it's everybody — the physicians, the nurses, the respiratory therapists and now we're getting into the cold and flu season. Capacity in the winter is always an issue anyway, and on top of that there's COVID."
WPLN Nashville
Client: Tennessee Nurses Association
"Tennessee Quietly Reinstates Emergency Order
To Relieve Short-Staffed Hospitals"
August 9, 2021
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Gov. Bill Lee has signed an executive order reinstating flexibility for hospitals that find themselves short-staffed.
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The order allows out-of-state nurses and doctors to work in Tennessee, as well as those who are recently retired. Nursing graduates can also work without having to pass their licensure exam first. Some limitations on paramedics are also waived as well as renewed authority for the national guard to pitch in.
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The order was signed Friday and is set to expire Oct. 5.
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Earlier in the pandemic, nurse practitioners were allowed to work without much supervision from doctors, but that provision was eliminated.
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“Licensed and highly educated (advanced practice registered nurses) need to be able to practice to the full extent of their education and training when our state is battling a public health crisis. Waiting to utilize the skill of these professionals will only provoke an already stressed healthcare system,” the Tennessee Nurses Association said in a statement.
Bloomberg
Client: Healthcare Management Partners
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Client: Healthcare Management Partners
"Federal relief money falls short of covering hospital losses"
May 16, 2020
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As they wait to see if the federal government will provide more relief — and how insurers might reimburse them for COVID-19 patients — Georgia hospitals are making some hard decisions.
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Many have hired consultants to help them cut costs, and some have laid off or furloughed workers and cut salaries. Don Bivacca, managing director at Healthcare Management Partners, who is assisting in the effort, said many hospitals are also asking for deferrals on lease and rent payments.
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But, “the No. 1 expense for a hospital is salaries,’’ Bivacca said.
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Client: Healthcare Management Partners
"Rescue efforts fail for rural hospitals"
September 30, 2020
Hoping to improve efficiencies and curb costs, other rural Georgia hospitals have struck similar partnerships with larger health systems. The arrangements often allow the smaller hospitals to offer services they could not otherwise afford, lock in discounts for supplies and equipment, and address staffing shortages, said healthcare consultant Don Bivacca, of the Nashville-based Healthcare Management Partners.
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“When it works well, it’s usually because of open and honest communication and dedication to service and quality,” Bivacca said.