The organization will undergo a multi-year process of updating its logo throughout its service areas in Virginia and North Carolina.
Norfolk, Virginia-based Sentara Healthcare recently introduced new branding for the nonprofit healthcare organization, including a new name and updated logo.
The system, now Sentara Health, made the name change to reflect its focus on the overall health and well-being of its consumers. The brand change also reflects the alignment of the organization's healthcare services and health plans, and by the end of the year, the Optima Health and Virginia Premier brands will unify under the Sentara Health Plans brand.
The system also updated its logo with a more contemporary and bolder version of the original logo, to create a more modern, people-centered, and approachable look. It still features the original's "swoosh," which represents the organization's "gold standard" in healthcare to its consumers.
_0.png)
Sentara logo refresh. Courtesy of Sentara.
"It is an exciting day for all of us here at Sentara. Our new name and logo help us show our commitment to making healthcare simple, seamless, personal, and more affordable," Dennis Matheis, president and CEO of Sentara, said in a press release on Thursday. "By leveraging both healthcare services and a variety of health plan options, we are creating greater access for consumers to receive high-quality healthcare."
The brand refresh follows more than a year of market research and communication with the organization's patients, members, communities, individuals, and colleagues, the system said, and reflects consumers' trust in Sentara.
"Our name may be changing to reflect healthcare today and, in the future, but our commitment to our mission, to improve health every day, is stronger than ever," Matheis said.
In a recent interview with HealthLeaders, Matheis shared that Sentara was in the middle of an organization-wide strategic refresh, with a focus on the consumer.
"We've got a number of work efforts centered around consumerism and the notion that we need to become more consumer-oriented as an organization. We've labeled it 'One Sentara,' and it's leveraging both the healthcare financing side of our organization alongside our healthcare delivery to create more seamless, easy-to-use experiences for our patients/members," he said. "This will be a multi-year journey for us as an organization. It's about how we help drive and make healthcare simpler for our patients and customers, more accessible, ultimately more affordable, and get to a more simplified experience. The work that we're kicking off there is going to engage fairly deeply into the leadership ranks of our organization as well."
Additionally, Matheis said: "I firmly believe that organizing the financial healthcare and the delivery of care within the same framework is where the world is headed from a healthcare evolution perspective."
"It really is about creating the system to allow for things to be easier for people to experience their healthcare journey," he said. "One of the reasons I'm really excited about this journey that we're on [is that] as we go through it, it's going to make healthcare simpler, more seamless, and more accessible for people, and that ultimately should translate into healthier individuals and people being able to live healthier lives."
Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.