ORIGINAL CASE STUDY / PROCESS ANALYSIS
THE FARMERS' MARKET AT THE KAISER PERMANENTE
HOSPITAL, FRESNO, USA
Farmers' markets on a hospital campus? Well, that is what the Kaiser Permanente Hospitals, a healthy system chain in the United states has been doing since 2003. Bringing fresh food to patients, staff, visitors and open to the local community, these markets run once a week, and round the year in many places. Over 50 Kaiser hospitals are doing this... and another 50 non Kaiser hospitals have followed suit, making it a very compelling phenomena of collective value creation.
We examine here the market at Fresno in California, USA. This market selects itself for its unique operational model, where the market champion (as the people who run the markets are called) sources the vendors directly, making for a direct-relationship model. This is among the hardest type of operational models, with constant relationship building and maintaining and dealing with all speedbumps on your own.
For those with intrapreneurial ambitions, this also highlights the time and various issues one will need to deal with, in addition to conducing your day job duties!
We are forever grateful to Meredith Murillo, Communications Manager and Market Champion for spending time with us over the years (yes!) to explain the market nuances, take us around, and discuss with us the plusses and minuses of such a venture.
Of Interest to
New service for existing market
Healthcare
Nonprofit
Emphasis on the local population
Self-sustaining Units
Harnessing local culture
Intrapreneurs / Leveraging brand name / extending brand philosophy
the details...
WHAT: Fresh and prepared food market on the Kaiser Permanente Fresno campus
WHEN: Every Wednesday 10 AM- 1PM (Local Time)
FOR: The entire community, patients, visitors & Staff
VENDORS: 26 & counting
SINCE: 2005
NUMBER OF HOSPTIAL STAFF INVOLVED: 1 Market Champion who devotes 25% work week hours on this; 2-3 support staff who devote anywhere from 3-5% of their work week
MODEL OF OPERATION: Direct Sourcing. As in, the Farmers' Market team at the hospital (the Communications Department in this case), has direct dealings with each vendor; Not run through a market facilitating association.
Note: To see the entire process flow, analysis & critique, please switch to a desktop/laptop/tablet on your favorite browser.
process flow & analysis
The entire process of how the farmers market at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital at Fresno came about has been crunched into an interactive graphic below. Hover over titles and buttons to read more.
Note that this is a dissemination and not a chronological representation of events. There is no storytelling. We focus instead on how Meredith Murillo [The market champion, who is in charge of all market operations] and her team went about through the process of setting up WCRC, what were some key partnerships, decisions and factors that led to its implementation and success.
Factors and Value Propositions that led to its success has been appropriately tagged.
A doctor (Preston Maring) at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital at Oakland USA decides to take the whole ‘eat healthy to stay healthy’ motto a step further. Negotiates with a local Farmers’ market association to run a fresh food market once a week for a few hours in the morning.
Several Kaiser locations pick up the idea; work with their own hospital’s nuances and rules to bring fresh and prepared food to the community, right on their campus.
Each market is free to choose its own operational model as long as it adheres to the overall rules and guidelines laid out by the governing initiative created just to coordinate all markets.
At Fresno California, a Communications Manager & her team at the Department of Public Affairs take on the challenge. Decide to implement a market on their campus as well.
2003
Facilitating opportunities do not come by often, esp. in more traditional organizations like hospitals;
Being a facilitator requires additional time, resources and most importantly, the backing of your superiors….if you can commit to the time and have modes of finding resources, take the opportunity.
These ideas, as we see here can make a huge difference in the lives of entire communities.
standout factors...
As we went through analyzing the process, several factors came up, which when triangulated with interviews and discussions, gave rise to the following factors.
Hover your mouse (or press and hold if using touch screen) over the boxes in beige and purple to read further critique.
Informing leadership, immediate superiors of the idea helps get a buy-in. By the time the formal presentation is made, they are somewhat clued in and not taken by surprise
"Use social media. Vendors, farmers etc. nowadays are all very open to being contacted directly; an advantage I did not have in 2004. Do not underestimate its reach" – says Murillo
The market is run by the Public Affairs Department, so relationship-building is in their DNA so to say! Making calls, cultivating and nurturing contacts is a big part of the job, says Murillo, something she and the PA department are perfectly adept to do.
Market activities are constantly regulated. Being a hospital means top priority to patients. Market or not, circulation for them gets top priority. And the market is ADA compliant (see logic diagram for explanation), fully handicap accessible.
Murillo advises against scaling just for the sake of it; or even just because there is an opportunity. As intrapreneurs and facilitators, time is limited as are the resources one can spare. Be careful of how much you can commit to before venturing into planning!
Setting up and operating the market is all about relationship building- both internal and external. be it leadership or vendors, maintaining a healthy working relationship, resolving issues as they crop up and not letting an issue drag on are key to the success of an intrapreneurial facilitation venture such as this.
The Market Champion is very cautious about this. She knows exactly how much time and resources she an procure and unless an overwhelmingly powerful opportunity comes by, she does not see the need to diversify. The market itself offers plenty of variety- fresh and prepared food, ready snacks and a relaxed atmosphere, which meets the current need, she says.
The market is a direct reflection on the Kaiser Permanente brand; from logos and colors to activities at the market, the market strives to reflect the Kaiser brand.
Kaiser Permanente promotes health and wellness in a big way. By leveraging the Kaiser brand, these farmers markets gain credibility instantly and in turn increase brand value of the hospital, as an entity that 'walks the talk'!
Feedback is routinely sought from Facilities & Trash Management, Parking, Security as well as vendors regarding the ongoing of the market. This is a continual process as things constantly change.
Murillo has created documents & maps for parking, traffic flow etc. for the vendors to follow;
Kaiser Permanente has created a design guide as a broad guidance for all markets. (This is an advantage larger organizations have…some processes are streamlined)
SKILLS & RESOURCES
COMMUNICATION
Hover over boxes for more information
Click on image to open gallery.
image gallery...
Have a question? Or more?
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If you are interested in setting up a market like this at your hospital, or want to know other innovative ventures suited for healthcare organizations, please click here, We will be happy to assist you!
The Farmers Market details can be reached here.
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