Kirby Medical Center’s (KMC) Director of Marketing & Community Relations, Heidi Apperson, has a tenure that’s rare these days. She’s been with the rural healthcare group for 20 years, having started when she was just a high school student, and her role has evolved from receptionist to head of marketing. Apperson stepped into her first marketing position in 2012, just a couple of years before KMC partnered with image.works to assist Apperson as she juggled community relations and events on top of her marketing responsibilities. For image.works, it’s been a wonderful 10 years working with Apperson and the rest of the KMC staff, so we wanted to learn more about how she came into her role and her perspective on marketing.
What motivated you to choose this line of work?
I really enjoy being able to utilize my creative side, work with the community and know that my work makes a difference!
What brought you to your current organization?
I worked at Kirby Medical Group in Atwood in high school. When the receptionist retired, they called and asked if I would be interested in the position, and I said “absolutely!” I was able to take advantage of KMC’s tuition reimbursement to complete my associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees and advance internally within the organization.
What do you enjoy most about the services you provide?
Being in a rural community, I love that Kirby is able to offer pretty much every healthcare service a person could need right here in town so they don't have to travel for care. Growing up in a small community and knowing the struggles to get to appointments miles away has really helped me appreciate Kirby so much more!
What valuable nugget of marketing know-how would you give your younger self?
I feel like focusing on community needs and being involved every way you can in your community helps to know what does and does not work with marketing efforts. It gives you the opportunity to know the heartbeat of the community and shift priorities or goals as needed.
What brought you to image.works?
I met Director of National Sales Emilee Schultz at an ISHMPR conference and was so surprised that image.works offered reasonable, upfront pricing.
How has your organization benefited from image.works’ products and services?
image.works has helped us with many things including annual reports, rack cards, ads, newsletters, direct mail, brochures, logos and much more!
What do you appreciate about working with image.works?
I appreciate and feel they are an extended part of the Kirby team. They know the Kirby brand, can quickly pull together custom content for marketing and are a joy to work with.