Storytelling and Community Building in Hospitals’ Strategic Plans: A Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Hospitals communicate their values, positions, and future goals to the public through their strategic plans. The language and images used in these reports reflect each hospital’s distinct identity. Three hospitals in Toronto, Canada were selected to explore how this identity is communicated through their strategic plans. Using a poststructuralist, pattern-based discourse analysis, a common theme of “Hospital as Community Builder” emerged. All three hospitals used visual and verbal storytelling to anthropomorphize themselves, connect with the community, and foster a sense of ownership and belonging. By incorporating storytelling into their strategic plans, the hospitals transform a historic identity as sterile, institutional bodies into a modern identity as facilitators of community connection.