Challenge
In June 2018, Duke Raleigh Hospital held its fifth All-Staff Event. This event was created for all of Duke Raleigh Hospital’s employees from physicians to staff and volunteers with a goal to motivate and inspire everyone to embrace a unique system-wide commitment to transforming health care by becoming the best place to work, practice medicine and receive care. The All-Staff videos, along with branded design elements, created by Contrast Creative in partnership with Duke Raleigh Hospital are integral to the event. The 2017 All-Staff Event was unlike any other prior in that one of the key patient stories presented was the hospital president’s own. On February 14, 2017, Dr. Dave Zaas, MD, MBA, President of Duke Raleigh Hospital, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), caused by a rare genetic mutation. He underwent a clinical trial based on personalized gene therapy at Johns Hopkins University where his son Jake donated his bone marrow to help his dad beat AML. All the while, his Duke Raleigh Hospital employees rallied around him and his family with unprecedented support.
Result
Dr. Dave Zass’s deeply personal AML story was presented at the 2018 Duke Raleigh Hospital All-Staff Event to an audience of hospital employees and shared to the general public via social channels. Zaas’s story continues to have a meaningful impact on Duke Raleigh Hospital employees by helping them connect hospital priorities with the honor of being able to serve patients during their greatest time of need. In February 2019, two years after his diagnosis, Zaas’s story was awarded a GOLD 2019 Cancer Awareness Advertising Award for excellence in cancer awareness marketing and advertising.