Jill Chadwick. Dolph SImons and Bob Page, president and chief executive officer of the University of Kansas Hospital.
KU Hospital has the first news feed video operation of its kind, thanks to a donation by a newspaper publisher and his family.
Dolph C. Simons Jr., publisher of the Lawrence Journal-World, donated the unspecified amount for the equipment and creation of a broadcast studio.
Simons said in a news release: “As a newspaper family, we recognize how important it is to make information available to the public and to provide expertise to put new developments in perspective.”
He hopes the operation will let people know about the great work done by the hospital and the KU medical center, he said.
The Medical News Network at the “Dolph C. Simons Family Broadcast Studio” officially opened Monday, but has been used 106 times since June, officials said at a news conference.
The cloud-based technology allows releases worldwide to multiple news outlets but also provides raw video, sound cuts and more that reporters can use to create their own stories.
That second aspect makes it unique among the nation’s hospitals, said Jill Chadwick, hospital spokeswoman.
“We’re leading the nation in this effort,” she said.
The newsroom proved its value in a recent case in which a possible Ebola patient was admitted, she said.
Calls came in from news groups ‘like a grassfire,” she said, and they were able to provide accurate information to all outlets as it became available. Tests showed the patient did not have Ebola.
“We got out good and correct information,” Chadwick said, and reporters did not have to stake out or approach doctors or patients and their families.
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