Key takeaways:
- SocialMedia.org Health was launched in 2016 to meet the unique challenges of healthcare social media leaders and has grown into one of our strongest, most enduring communities.
- Over the past decade, nearly 800 social media leaders across 158 hospitals and healthcare systems have contributed to a trusted, peer-led network grounded in real-world healthcare realities.
- Our continued growth reflects what members value most: candid conversations, meaningful connections, and insights you can actually use.
If you spend any time on social media right now, you’ve probably noticed it: the revival of the 2016-era internet culture. The visuals are a little messier. The tone is lighter. The content feels more human, less optimized.
In many ways, that moment mirrors something important for us at SocialMedia.org Health, because 2016 wasn’t just a cultural moment. It was the year we officially launched this community.
As SocialMedia.org Health is celebrating 10 years of community, we’re reflecting on where we started, how far we’ve come, and most importantly, the members who made it what it is today.
A Community Born from a Shared Reality
In early 2016, we began to notice something distinct within our SocialMedia.org community. Social media leaders at hospitals and health systems were having deeper, more frequent conversations shaped by regulatory pressure, patient trust, crisis communications, and public health responsibility.
Organizations like Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Boston Children’s Hospital were navigating challenges that simply didn’t exist in the same way for consumer brands.
So we did what we’ve always done best: we listened.
On February 23, 2016, SocialMedia.org Health officially launched at a Founders Meeting hosted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, alongside founding members representing more than 20 health systems.
That decision to create a dedicated, peer-driven space for healthcare social media leaders set the foundation for what would become one of our most successful communities.
10 Years of Growth, Trust, and Real Connection
Over the past decade, SocialMedia.org Health has grown steadily—and intentionally.
- 158 hospitals and healthcare systems have participated over time
- Nearly 800 social media leaders have been part of the community all-time
- 16 in-person Healthcare Social Media Summits have brought peers together to share what’s actually working
- Today, 75 hospitals and 296 leaders actively engage in ongoing, weekly conversations
- Renewal rates have consistently held strong at 85–90%, year after year
Those numbers matter. But what matters more is what they represent: trust, relevance, and value.
Members return not because they have to, but because the conversations continue to help them navigate evolving platforms, rising expectations, and the growing complexity of healthcare communications.
That trust is perhaps best reflected in how this community comes together in person.
This spring, SocialMedia.org Health will gather in Chicago for the Healthcare Social Media Summit, hosted by RUSH — marking the ninth member-hosted event in just ten years.
Past member-hosted meetings have been generously hosted by: Boston Children’s Hospital, Oregon Health & Science University, Mercy, Scottish Rite for Children, UC Davis Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
That level of participation is remarkable. It’s a testament to how deeply this community is shaped and sustained by our members. SocialMedia.org Health isn’t just a place people attend; it’s a space leaders actively invest in, share ownership of, and continue to build together.
Moments That Shaped Our Community
Some of the most impactful moments in SocialMedia.org Health haven’t happened on a stage; they’ve happened in our conversations.
Over the years, members have connected through:
- Hundreds of Community Calls addressing real-time challenges
- Healthcare Social Media Summits that bring peers together to share what’s actually working
- An estimated 1,756 one-to-one connections made through introductions to each other.
But perhaps no period shaped this community more profoundly than the pandemic.
During what may have been the most difficult and uncertain time in our collective history — both as a community and as a country — healthcare social media teams were truly on the front lines. They were responsible for communicating rapidly evolving guidance, countering misinformation, supporting patients and families, and serving as a trusted public voice for their organizations.
In that moment, SocialMedia.org Health became more than a professional network. We became a true community.
Members leaned on one another to confide, ask for advice, share what was working, and learn together in real time — often navigating challenges no one had faced before. Those conversations, held confidentially and grounded in shared experiences, strengthened relationships and reinforced the value of having a trusted peer community when it mattered most.
It remains a defining chapter in the history of SocialMedia.org Health, and a powerful example of what this community is capable of when leaders come together with openness and purpose.
Why Our Community Continues to Grow
If 2016 nostalgia has taught us anything, it’s that people crave spaces that feel genuine.
SocialMedia.org Health has endured because it offers:
- Peer insights without any vendors or sales pitches
- Confidential, trusted conversations with people who understand healthcare social media
- Practical takeaways you can apply at your organization
- A network that balances strategy, empathy, and accountability
From children’s hospitals to academic medical centers to large health systems, today’s members reflect the breadth and depth of healthcare itself.
Thank You to the Members Who Built This
This milestone belongs to the members who have shaped SocialMedia.org Health from the very beginning and to those who continue to strengthen it today.
We owe a special note of gratitude to the founding organizations who helped bring this community to life in 2016. Their leadership, openness, and willingness to share candidly set the tone for everything that followed:
Advocate Health Care, Baptist Health, Boston Children’s Hospital, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Kindred Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Memorial Hermann Health System, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Nemours Children’s Health System, Northwell Health, Oregon Health and Science University, Providence St. Joseph Health, Stanford Children’s Health, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, UC Davis Health, UnityPoint Health, University Hospitals, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
These organizations helped define what we stand for: trust, generosity, and peer leadership grounded in real-world healthcare challenges.
To every member who has shown up over the past ten years — on Community Calls, at Summits, and behind the scenes — thank you. SocialMedia.org Health continues to thrive because our members are willing to learn from one another, share what’s working (and what’s not), and invest in a community that values honesty.
