Historic partnership between health, business, and community leaders through RESTART Task Force

(Black PR Wire) Cincinnati, Ohio—The Cincinnati Chamber is partnering with The Health Collaborative to launch the Regional COVID Communications Center (RC3), an ongoing campaign that shares culturally competent and equitable information about COVID-19 prevention, community spread, testing availability, and other critical news to help individuals and businesses make smart decisions with the most current and credible information.

The RC3 will be led by Regina Carswell Russo, CEO/Principal Strategist at RRight Now Communications. Carswell Russo will serve as the leader of the initiative, and will coordinate weekly public messaging activities, and build a network of allies and communicators who can share key facts and information with the public. The RC3 is a non-partisan, fact-based communications effort to share the most important data, best practice protocols, and clear information about the pandemic in our region. The RC3 will work directly with hospitals, medical professionals, the region’s business community, and key grassroots and community leaders to share important messages.

In the “Principles of a Responsible Return” report issued by the RESTART Task Force in April, Task Force leaders insisted that an ongoing locally-driven effort to communicate about COVID-19 would be needed at least throughout 2020 and perhaps beyond. The report also recommended an intense and intentional focus on protecting vulnerable populations. The RC3 will deliver on these recommendations.

“The RC3 is filling a need in our community,” said Carswell Russo. “We need clear and uniform information about how to keep our families safe and about how to prevent further spread of COVID-19. The region can expect to hear from authentic and respected voices about the importance of wearing a mask, getting tested, and maintaining a distance that protects others. We will meet communities where they are to make sure this critical information is delivered.

The Co-Chairs of the RESTART Task Force’s Public and Social Health Task Force, Delores Hargrove-Young (D.E. Foxx and Associates), Michael Fisher (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center), Dr. Richard Lofgren (UC Health), and Dr. O’Dell Owens (Interact for Health), led the effort to create the RC3 and participated in several community listening sessions to gather feedback and plan the effort. The Cincinnati Regional Chamber and The Health Collaborative will provide ongoing leadership and support to the effort.

“The RC3 will work closely with the dozens of community, governmental, and business organizations that are engaged in the fight against COVID-19, and will coordinate messages and share key facts to keep people safe and informed,” said Delores Hargrove-Young, on behalf of the RESTART Task Force.

In the coming weeks and months, the RC3 will be available to media, community organizations, and businesses to support communications efforts related to COVID-19.

The RESTART Task Force consists of representatives from the business community who provide leadership to the Cincinnati region as it regains momentum from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Task Force is focused on areas of economic development, arts/culture/sports, commerce, public and social health, education, and government.

RESTART is a project of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the Cincinnati Business Committee, and the Cincinnati Regional Business Committee. Visit the Restart Cincinnati website to view current initiatives.

About The Health Collaborative: The Health Collaborative is a non-profit organization that leads data-driven improvements that result in healthier people, better care and lower costs. We support and accelerate innovation with our partners to solve healthcare’s toughest challenges. Find our most recent news at healthcollab.org.

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