During his past 10 years at Jordan, which followed more than a decade of doing sales and customer service for a commercial printing firm, Loony received a scholarship from NESHCo to attend its fall conference as a junior level healthcare communications professional. He has also helped his organization win numerous Lamplighter awards for marketing and pubic relations work.

But nothing compares to the sense of accomplishment Looney felt in working on the “Kayla's Law” campaign that earned the top Lamplighters Award this spring as a “Community Outreach/Advocacy” category entry.

Kayla's Law Campaign
The campaign sparked groundbreaking Massachusetts' legislation to make automatic external defibrillators (AED) mandatory fixtures at fitness clubs in 2007. It began at a grassroots level shortly after a young Jordan Hospital employee met with an untimely death. Here is how Looney described the campaign in his Lamplighter entry's Challenge Statement:

On March 7, 2006, 22-year-old Kayla Richards, a Jordan Hospital employee, collapsed and died while exercising at a health club in Plymouth, MA. It was discovered that Kayla suffered from a cardiac condition, victims of which can often be saved using an AED. This gym did not have an AED. Upon further investigation, Kayla’s family and friends learned that health clubs in MA  were not required to have AEDs. Judy Richards, RN, Kayla’s mother, and two colleagues, Carolyn Fahey, RN, and Kim Shanley, RN, with the support of Jordan’s public relations team, set out to pass a law not only to require an AED in all MA health clubs but also have staff trained to use it.

Looney vividly remembers the effect that Kayla's death had upon Jordan Hospital. “It's a community hospital so when this tragedy happened it was absolutely devastating,” he says. It took all three phases of the hospital's winning campaign to eventually get what is now known as “Kayla's Law” passed: legislative support, media relations and community awareness.

Looney succinctly summarized the campaign’s impressive outcomes as such in his Challenge Statement:

Kayla’s bill became Kayla’s law on January 3 [2007], moving through the legislature in a near record eight months. Media hits (print) totaled 50 plus from 3/2006-9/2007. TV hits included The NBC Today Show, New England Cable News, Channel 5 and WSBK TV 38. Most importantly, two lives have been saved due to the law.

Past Victory, Future Goals
The “Best in New England” Lamplighter Award Looney proudly brought back to Jordan Hospital after NESHCo's ceremonies in Providence this spring is, in Looney's words, “a community award.” He hastens to add, “It never could have been accomplished without community support.” A lobby display is now in the works at Jordan Hospital that will feature the award prominently beside a photo of Kayla and her mother, Judy, a Jordan Hospital employee of some 20 years.

But Looney is not one to sit on his laurels. He is already busy meeting goals in his recent appointment as Jordan Hospital's Director of Physician Relations and Network Development to build better relationships between administrative and medical staff.

“It’s an incredible place to work with some very smart people,” says Looney. “Jordan has given me the opportunity to advance my career…I'm always looking for a new challenge!”

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