Hello There,

As 2025 winds down, many healthcare leaders are asking the same question: How do we end the year strong and set the right strategy for what’s next?

In this edition of Strategic Insights, we explore how clarity, alignment, and action can transform your organization’s performance in 2026 and beyond. You’ll learn how to:

• Reposition marketing as a true investment in growth, not an expense.
• Unify your brand and culture to navigate rapid expansion with confidence.
• Bring structure, focus, and momentum to your planning.

Whether you’re crunching on year-end deliverables, finalizing next year’s budget or refocusing priority initiatives, now is the time to act, and we’re ready to help you start tomorrow.

Warm regards,
Mike Chapman
President

Is Your Marketing Budget Working Like Capital?

As hospitals and health systems prepare for 2026, one message is clear: marketing can no longer be viewed as an expense. The most forward-thinking organizations understand marketing is a strategic investment — one that directly fuels growth, reputation, and patient acquisition.

The difference lies in how marketing leaders tell the story. When you connect campaigns to measurable business outcomes — referrals, contribution margin, and market share — you shift perception from “cost center” to “growth engine.”

Springboard’s latest blog, Six Ways to Reposition Health System Marketing as an Investment, outlines how to:

• Lead with business outcomes, not activity metrics
• Demonstrate ROI through enterprise-level performance measures
• Translate data into the financial language of the C-suite
• Present results using an investor’s framework

The takeaway: when marketing demonstrates predictable, scalable value, it earns a permanent seat at the growth table.

When Growth Outpaces Brand Clarity

For rapidly expanding healthcare organizations, growth can bring as much confusion as opportunity. That was the challenge facing BayMark Health Services — North America’s largest provider of substance use disorder treatment — as it integrated dozens of acquired programs and facilities.

Springboard helped BayMark create a unified brand architecture that strengthened the connection of each sub-brand to the parent brand, and to each other. The result? Greater clarity, stronger culture, and measurable growth.

Strategy That Brings Clarity, Alignment, and Action

As the end of the year approaches, healthcare leaders are racing to finalize marketing initiatives, strategic plans, and budgets that will set the tone for 2026. The challenge? Turning urgency into clarity — and ideas into action.

At Springboard, we help organizations make sense of complexity and shape strategies that drive real results. Whether you’re responding to market shifts, planning for growth, or seeking internal alignment, our approach brings structure, insight, and momentum when it matters most.

We call it the Brand CURE — a proven framework for collaborative, insight-driven strategy development:

• Competencies. Align on goals, challenges, and success metrics.
• Uniquity. Uncover what sets you apart through research and insight.
• Relevance. Prioritize opportunities and align leadership around them.
• Energy. Deliver actionable roadmaps that move teams forward.

There’s still time to finish strong — and start next year with focus and confidence.

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