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Published on:

9th Jun 2025

Building Trust: Erika Hermanson's Journey in Healthcare Communications

In this episode of the Paid Media Playbook, we engage in a compelling conversation with Erika Hermanson, the Director of Communications at Providence Swedish. Erika shares her inspiring journey into communications, tracing her passion back to high school and her involvement in the Future Business Leaders of America. The discussion delves into the challenges and triumphs of healthcare communications, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis. Erika highlights the 'Proudly Providence Swedish' campaign, which celebrates the stories of caregivers and their connection to the organization. The episode also explores the roles of paid and organic social media, the importance of aligning communication with organizational values, and offers career advice for budding professionals.

00:00 Introduction to the Paid Media Playbook

00:40 Meet Erika Hermanson: Director of Communications at Providence Swedish

00:50 Erika's Journey into Communications

02:22 Challenges in Healthcare Communications

03:41 Proudly Providence Swedish Campaign

06:25 The Role of Social Media in Healthcare

10:09 Transitioning from Agency to In-House

13:16 Providence Swedish Values and Mission

18:20 Advice for Aspiring Communicators

20:07 Conclusion and Final Thoughts


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Transcript
Laura:

I am Laura.

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Lisa: And I'm Lisa.

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Laura: And this is the Paid Media Playbook

where we talk to marketing professionals

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about their challenges, tactics, and

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triumphs.

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Join us here at Double Z Media for

weekly conversations about media

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strategies for marketing leaders.

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Welcome Erika Hermanson.

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Erika is the director of

Communications at Providence Swedish.

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. How are you?

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Erika: I'm great.

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Thank you.

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Thanks for having me today.

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Laura: Absolutely.

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So Erika, tell us a little bit on

about how you got into communications.

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What started your passion for comms?

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Erika: Oh, we're going

way back machine here.

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I went to a really small high

school in North Snohomish County

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and had a wonderful business

teacher when they still had business

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teachers and she encouraged me to.

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Join the group, future Business Leaders

of America, and I just was enamored with

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the group and the, you know, the travel,

going to conferences and learning about

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how to express yourself in written wor

word and express yourself in graphics.

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And decided then and there that

I wanted to be in communication.

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So it goes all the way back to

high school and thank you Future

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Business Leaders of America.

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Lisa: That's awesome.

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A lot of times I feel like we hear

with, the marketing industry in general.

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People get to college and think, okay,

well now how do I get a job later?

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Like, it's so exciting to hear that

you have a, a passion for the work.

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Mm-hmm.

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Erika: I was born to be a communicator.

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And I went off to Pacific Lutheran

University and studied under the

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late Great Cliff Row and Sheila

Colon, and she's still with us.

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And just had an amazing experience

working learning about communication,

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news, writing, editing, public relations,

and I was off to the races after that.

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Laura: Now, how is it

working in healthcare?

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I mean, this has gotta be tough.

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I know that Virginia Mason had

recently gone through some issues

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with privacy and that sort of thing.

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Do you guys have the same

sort of issues with like your.

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With your agency, for example, like I

know that some patient had sued all these

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people that we typically work with, like

Google, and they went through a crisis.

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And I'm not asking you to

necessarily comment on that, but do

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you come on into the same issues,

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Erika: Y Yeah, I won't I can't comment

about what Virginia Mason has gone

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through, but yeah, the healthcare has been

through a real significant, challenging

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time for the last several years.

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We're coming up on the fifth year

of Covid the hospital I support

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Providence Regional Medical Center.

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Everett just acknowledged the five

year anniversary of the first known.

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Covid patient in the country

and that patient was first seen

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at our hospital in, in Everett.

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So yeah, it has been there are

crises happening all the time.

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Some of them I end up touching and

some of them, you know, are just

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in different departments or how

other different groups are handling

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it, but there's always, always

something to keep things interesting.

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Laura: Yeah, for sure, for sure.

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So what are some of the most recent

that you're kind of, proud of some

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of the accomplishments that you've

done recently that you wanna talk

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about that Providence has done?

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Erika: Yeah.

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So, Providence, Swedish and in

particular, Providence Regional

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Medical Center, Everett has, you

know, saw the first Covid patient.

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We had staffing issues.

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You know, there are not as many

nurses and other clinicians coming

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through the system and coming up.

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We had a work stoppage and a lot of.

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Stories in the paper that

maybe didn't provide, put our

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hospital in the best light.

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And so one of the things that I'm really,

really proud of is trying to regain

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the trust of not only our community

and the, the people that we care for

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each and every day but also for our

own caregivers to acknowledge that.

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That they're amazing and they're wonderful

and they have amazing stories and

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that they're valued and they're loved.

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And this is, this kind of goes beyond

the whole healthcare heroes thing that

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has kind of become a little bit trite.

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And you know, . It's still very

important, but it's just it was used

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a lot during the early days of Covid

and so I am particularly proud of this

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campaign that we're rolling out right

now called and have been rolling out.

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It's called Proudly Providence Swedish.

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And it is a campaign that features

our own caregivers celebrating what

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drew them into the organization.

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What drew them to Snohomish County

to practice medicine practice

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their craft and what drew them to

to stay and what keeps them there.

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And so we developed this campaign

that tells their stories why they

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had their cancer treatment at, at

our hospital, why they entrusted

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their care to their own colleagues.

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Why, you know, a nurse

stays at Providence.

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Providence Swedish because

of the education benefits.

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So , using in a very polite way,

our own caregivers to tell their

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stories on what makes it a great

place to give a receive care.

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Laura: that's a great idea.

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I love that.

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That makes it super

meaningful to both sides.

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Yeah.

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To both the patient and the,

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Erika: Mm-hmm.

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Laura: and the, the staff.

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Erika: We live in such a beautiful

community that the stories

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themselves are set in our community.

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We've featured, you know, our

beautiful mountains and our beautiful

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waters and, you know, to, to use

arc to bring the outside in to our

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hospital as well as our caregivers

out to the rest of the community.

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Lisa: Can you tell us a little bit

about which platforms you're focusing

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on to get this campaign out to people?

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Erika: Yeah, so we are currently

we have been using paid social

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as well as connected tv.

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And we've also done some organic

social and signage inside the hospital,

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leading people , to see these, these

stories for themselves on our website.

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So those are the primary media placements.

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We also have environmental

graphics scattered throughout our

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hospital and one really big one

that's going to be coming soon.

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Once Mother Nature cooperates

and it is warm enough and dry

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enough for us to put a, a very

large sign outside our hospitals,

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Laura: nice.

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Lisa: That's such an important piece,

especially when you've put so much time

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and thought into a campaign like this.

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You don't want someone to

have to stumble upon it.

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Right.

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You wanna make sure people

actually are, are hearing what

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your coworkers have to say.

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Mm-hmm.

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Have you noticed, you mentioned you've

used both organic and paid social.

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Something that we've

heard quite a bit is how.

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Assuming, you know, paid social

meta, probably Facebook and

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Instagram is one of the big ones.

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Just the way they are deprioritizing

organic messaging to sort of force

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brands to focus on paid social

more and more on their platform.

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Is that something that you've

noticed in your own work as well?

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Erika: Yeah, I mean it's, I mean, organic

social is just like, it's one and done

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Lisa: Mm-hmm.

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Erika: And it just doesn't reach

the audience that, that we really

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wanna reinforce our message with.

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So it's unfortunate.

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Lisa: Yeah.

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Laura: Yeah, those days of

sailed by when it really meant

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that you, if you had followers.

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Lisa: Yeah.

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Erika: Yeah, for sure.

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Lisa: I know even your

own followers, right?

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I think the metric we saw recently was

something like 11% of your followers

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on Instagram will see your organic

posts just abysmal, abysmally low.

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Yeah.

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Erika: I didn't know it was that bad.

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Lisa: It probably depends

on the brand too, right?

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A local brand probably has a little bit

better chances than a national one, but

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Laura: And how much they engaged are

they're engaging back and forth too,

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Lisa: Yeah, absolutely.

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, The other big pitfall of social

media is of course, that it is

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a communicative platform, right?

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It's not like connected TV where

you're saying, here is our message.

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You can't skip it.

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Wait 30 seconds.

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What are the.

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Considerations you have when it

comes to managing comments and

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responses on a platform like Meta?

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Erika: That is actually

handled by a whole other team.

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We have a whole department

that does that work.

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I mean, I'll take a look at.

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When we post something, I always like

do a cursory look at what is being said.

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But yeah, that's kind of a different team.

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We would talk about

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Laura: Yeah.

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Lisa: but you can't have

one without the other.

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Right?

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If you're doing robust organic posts,

that would just be miserable if you

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didn't have someone to look for.

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Look at it

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Erika: right, right.

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Yeah.

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We have I.

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A group that, that handles that and

escalates if, you know, you have a,

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a really angry patient or something

that, something that someone has said

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that is really undermining our message.

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And, and if there's something going on in

the community , or bigger story that we

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might be working on or trying to support

you know, we, we keep that in mind.

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Yeah.

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It just, it kind of is

case by case and I can't,

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Lisa: Yeah, no, of course.

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Yeah.

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Laura: It looks like , you had

your own marketing firm prior to

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working with Providence Swedish.

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How was that?

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, It looks like you had a lot of healthcare.

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How nice.

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Yeah.

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Erika: Well, I am really indebted.

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Forever to Larry Asher from Worker

Bees who called me up out of the blue.

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I had had my two young children and my

youngest was seven months old and I.

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I wanted to keep my foot in, toeing the

door but didn't want to work a thousand

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hours at a, you know, not a thousand

hours, but, you know, six 60 hour

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Laura: Mm-hmm.

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Erika: hour weeks with

little ones at home.

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And so I started my own business and I'm

indebted to Larry Asher at Worker Bees for

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calling me up and asking me if I wanted

to come work on the Swedish account.

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And.

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That started a wonderful relationship,

not only with Larry and the

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Laura: Yeah,

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Erika: team, but also with these

people who are now my colleagues

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at Swedish and Providence and I'm

just it's who knew one phone call

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could change the rest of my life.

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Mm-hmm.

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, Laura: So you don't really miss having

your own gig that much, or you're kind of

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happy because you have this kind of Yeah.

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Like you said, little more

time flexibility, insurance.

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Erika: Yeah.

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All those things don't have

to pitch business anymore.

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Laura: Right, right, exactly.

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I mean, I know as a business owner myself,

you're always trying to kind of fill the

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Erika: Yeah.

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Laura: Yeah.

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Nothing's guaranteed and Yeah.

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Erika: well, I I consulted for, for worker

bees and then directly with Providence

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for a, a while, and I really fell in love

with our mission and our values and the.

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The genuineness of my colleagues and the

work that we do to make sure that , not

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only our patients receive great care, but

also that our caregivers are cared for.

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And so, I just really felt

like this organization was

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in alignment with my values.

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Laura: I love that.

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Erika: Yeah.

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Lisa: What was it like you know,

working with Swedish from the agency

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side and then transitioning in-house?

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Was it kind of weird or was it seamless?

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, Erika: There were some weird

things, but just very subtle,

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like shifting from a Mac.

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Laura: Yeah.

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Erika: PC and how meetings are

set up on the inside versus

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how, you know, how they were.

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I mean, it was just difficult just in the

sense of trying to learn a new system.

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But I knew a lot of the people on the

comms team and the marketing team,

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and so that helped ease my way to

use a providence term, ease my way.

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Laura: yes, I saw that.

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Yeah.

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Erika: yeah.

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But it.

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It, it actually was just natural, I feel.

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Laura: Oh, that's great.

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I love that.

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, I know people who have done that,

like left the agency world to go.

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And some people go back

and forth their whole life.

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I think yeah.

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You found your, your

calling and your people.

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Erika: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Absolutely.

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And just to talk a little bit

about our, our values, I think.

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I've worked in a lot of organizations

even before I had my own thing

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that didn't really have a

well-defined mission or values.

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And Providence has five values that

I lean into every single day when I'm

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drafting communication, and they are,

we have an acronym, compassion Jedi.

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So it's compassion.

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J.

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Justice, E Excellence,

D, dignity I, integrity.

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And so anytime I'm faced with

any sort of communication

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challenge, whether it's happy.

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A happy message that I need to get

out, or even a harder, more heart

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wrenching message that I need to get out.

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I can lean into those values and

draft content and messages that are

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in alignment with those no matter how

are no matter what the message is.

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So I just feel really fortunate

to have that playbook, so to

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speak, to help me do my job.

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Laura: yes.

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To have that, it's like, yeah, it's like

healthy boundaries or something, you know.

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Exactly , where everything aligns.

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Does that align?

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Does that align?

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Yeah.

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Erika: Yes, absolutely.

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Laura: Well that I, I've learned a

lot about Providence Swedish today.

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I have, I have, I have my

daughter at Ballard Swedish,

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but that was a long time ago.

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Erika: Me too.

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That's where my babies were born too.

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Mm-hmm.

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Laura: they had it birthing

suite up in the top.

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I don't have that anymore,

but that was nice.

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It was all quiet up

there, and it was mellow.

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I, at least when I was there,

it was like, this is mellow.

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Erika: yeah, it was so.

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This is so great.

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And I guess that was maybe my first taste

of healthcare communication because it

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was like, you know, having had my babies

there and then I worked with worker Bees

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on a campaign of Born and Ballard, and

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Laura: Ah.

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Erika: we made these little window

clings that said Ballard Baby on board.

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That was, you know, and we had outdoor

boards with wonderful, beautiful pictures

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of the babies that were born there.

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So, yeah.

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Lisa: Do you find that you interact with

communications messages differently,

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like ones that are directed to you

as a consumer now that you know

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what it's like on the other side?

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Erika: Oh, yes.

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And some like.

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I, I'll see like taglines that

organizations use and I just,

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some of them just make me cringe.

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Like there was one Avis, we try harder.

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Well, geez, don't try.

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Just do know?

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Laura: Well, yeah.

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Yeah.

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They were, that's 'cause

they were second, right?

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Erika: I guess so.

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Laura: They, they were like second

and they were like, we're number

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two, so we have to try harder.

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And yeah, I don't, I, I know.

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Erika: Yeah, so I, I think have a

little bit of a more of a critique.

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My

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daughter might say I'm judgy.

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Laura: I, yeah, there's a certain

point where you can't help it.

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I mean, you've just seen a lot, and at

least for me, I have an opinion, but then

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again, that's why they hire us, right?

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Because we do have that acumen and

that opinion and that like conviction.

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Like, oh no, that isn't

gonna work, I promise you.

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Erika: Or who, who are you paying

to help you not look around corners

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with this crisis or what have you?

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And I'm not saying that we are perfect

by any stretch, but it's you know, , we

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have to look around corners all the

time and how our messages are gonna land

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Laura: Yes.

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Erika: with our caregivers or with

the public or the media, whomever.

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Laura: How do you like, as a,

a leader in, in communications?

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How do you learn more?

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How do you stay on top of things?

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Are there certain things that you do,

you know, networking or publications

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or, you know, blogs or podcasts what

makes you feel like you're not in a silo?

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Erika: well, I just went to

my first MCEI meeting and that

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was, that was just like, whoa.

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Laura: I heard about that group.

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Matter of fact, I was there.

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Erika: I know.

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I think we were at the same table.

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So that was, that was wonderful.

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You know, we do some lunch and

learns internally with our own.

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Caregivers to try to

learn from each other.

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I encourage my team also to like,

if they go to a seminar or they

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are in a graduate program, like

how can we help rise all tides?

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But mostly my podcasts.

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I have nothing to do with

comms because I just need a

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Laura: yeah, yeah.

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I'm like very basic.

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Like I do the daily and hidden brain

and like I'm like, I have a dating

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one too, but we won't talk about that.

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Erika: that's another podcast.

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Laura: Disasters and dating.

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Anyway.

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. Lisa: So now we would like you to

imagine that you could go back in

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time and if you could give yourself

at the beginning of your career one

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piece of advice, what would it be?

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Erika: Oh.

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Negotiate your first salary.

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I did not get any counsel on how

to negotiate my first salary, and

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that set the platform for where my

salary will be the rest of my life.

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That was the ground floor, and

I, especially women, we're not

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trained, were not counseled and.

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When you are given a job offer, you

are the one that holds the cards.

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And so my very first job, I

wish that I had said, thank you.

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. Let me go home and get a sharp pencil

and run the numbers, instead of just

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being so excited to be like, yes.

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Laura: Yeah, I know.

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I remember that.

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And the rest of the time I was like

listening to my friends talk and they're

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like, well, I have to be at least here.

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And I'm like, oh, I wasn't there.

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Shit, I didn't do that.

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You know, if I had just

asked for, yeah, I know.

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Erika: And that's, that's the

ground floor from which all of

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our salaries are built from.

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From there on, and you know, I know

men that I came outta school with

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in different fields, of course, who

came out with much, much, much higher

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salaries who are in a different place, so

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Lisa: Some states are working on

asking for salary history, making that

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illegal to try, try to prevent some of

that inequality, which is pretty cool.

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But

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Erika: In Washington state,

you they have to post what the

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range is for better or worse.

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Lisa: Yeah.

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But baby steps.

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Right.

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Erika: Yes.

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Yeah,

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Lisa: Well, Erika, thank you so much for

taking time out of your day to talk to us.

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This has been so educational for me.

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I at least,

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Laura: me too.

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And it was nice to get to know you better.

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I hope I see we at MCI soon.

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Thanks for listening to

the Paid Media Playbook.

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Want more content like this follow our

agency, double Z Media on LinkedIn.

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You can find the link in

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The Paid Media Playbook
Unlocking the Secrets of Successful Digital Marketing Strategies
Welcome to The Paid Media Playbook — where marketing leaders share what’s really working.

‍Each episode, we go beyond paid media to explore the strategies, insights, and behind-the-scenes lessons shaping modern marketing. From brand building to measurement, comms to creative, no topic is off-limits. You’ll hear from a diverse mix of Marketing Directors, Creators, Researchers, Agency Leaders, and Founders — all pushing the edge of what’s possible in their fields. Whether you're leading a marketing team or just love smart marketing conversations, this show is your playbook for what’s next.

About your hosts

Laura Szczes

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Paid Media Agency Owner with over 25 years of Paid Media Strategy Experience. Based in Seattle and talking about Paid Media, Marketing, Clients, and the Pacific Northwest.

Lisa Wekellis

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