Ronald N. Levy (3/13):
Millions of lives worldwide may be riding on whether Thompson lets her not only "help shape delivery" of the message but also help decide what that message should be.
A big PR asset of MSKCC is that it is the world's leading cancer center--the top of the mountain where the world's best cancer doctors and best-informed cancer patients try to be.
A big limitation of MSKCC--as can be seen from the brass plate in the lobbies--is that donations now comes mainly from individuals although several times as much could be added by institutions--companies, countries and associations.
We can judge how much worldwide media coverage and public gratitude an institution can create by funding a Name Here Medical Team to Cure Brain Cancer. . .or the Blood Cancer from which Robin Roberts (who was treated at MSKCC) is now recovering. . .or Prostate Cancer that threatens all men and kills millions every year.
The money is out there and Googling shows us that institutions spend over $50 billion on each Olympics (which many people may cafre about less than their health). The opportunity for institutional benefit is out there since now, one in three of us is likely to die of cancer. MSKCC already boasts four of the world's most renowned blood cancer experts--Drs. Craig Moskowitz, Carol Potlock, Anas Younes (recently brought in from M.D. Anderson's famed cancer center in Houston), and Andrew Zelenetz who chairs the national panel of lymphoma doctors.
PR can bring in the corporate support and Meehan has the skills. Whether it happens--as is so often the case in PR--depends not just on what is achievable but on what objectives management assigns to the PR team. |