After an 18 month planning process, Tri-County Health Care is shifting to the name Astera Health. The transition will pair with the opening of the new healthcare center on Hwy 10 in early 2023.
In a community town hall on Tuesday, Tri-County president and CEO Joel Beiswenger explained the name change works best now due to the building project along with the evolution of services and staff. He said the change will continue the organization’s values.
“We really are at one of those pivotal moments in our history,” Beiswenger said.
Astera comes from the Greek word for star. The star comparison is an important piece of the new name.
“We chose it because we believe that our organization is a high-performing organization,” Beiswenger said. “Stars of course have been guiding lights and guiding forces in the world and universe forever. And we believe that we serve that function with our patients in our primary care, patient coordination and all of the other activities that we do.”
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While there might be some confusion with the new name for awhile, the goal is to eliminate confusion of the old name. The name showed their location serving communities in Wadena, Todd and Otter Tail counties but also caused questions about the counties owning the organization, according to Beiswenger. Tri-County is a private, not-for-profit organization. The change is also not due to a sale or merger with any other organizations.
Several elements of the Tri-County Health Care name are also misused with the hyphen being omitted or combining health care into one word. These cause regulatory and legal issues sometimes, according to Beiswenger. The change from Tri-County Hospital to Health Care about 12 years ago also meant people still said hospital.
The cost of renaming is one question he often gets, as Beiswenger said, and besides the “energy and effort” of staff members the cost remains what it would have been for new signage at the healthcare center.
“Our old name and old logo of Tri-County have served us well for many years but we’re very excited about the new name we’ve chosen of Astera Health,” Beiswenger said. “What doesn’t change is our commitment to the patients, that we are here to be your trusted partner for life.”
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How was the name Astera Health chosen?
Tri-County partnered with Legato Healthcare Marketing, which works with rural healthcare organizations. The team presented 37 options that were scored and then narrowed down to eight. A group of about 12 Tri-County staff members including the marketing team, members from the board of directors, clinic providers and staff and administration were part of the process. The group chose from four final names.
The name options, checking for trademark protection and website domain were a six month process.
“Astera Health maybe represents better than the Tri-County name the values that we aspire to live up to,” Beiswenger said. “We do believe that the concept of star, … of being the beacon of hope in what sometimes in healthcare can be a rather challenging and sometimes disheartening and darkening situation, we believe that the name does fit our values, our mission and our vision very, very well.” The organization’s values are integrity, ownership, empathy, innovation, humility and joy.
What does the logo mean?
The logo makes a star when all of the points are put together. The star tilts because of the constant motion the healthcare industry is in from patient organization to new services and staff members, as Beiswenger said. The points show their mission and vision of hospital, clinics, providers, staff and communities, as manager of strategic marketing Molly Tabery noted.
The five colors match ones from the building design plans, which are being used in billboard advertising, mailings and the “ Imagine. Build. Transform. ” slogan for the groundbreaking. Community members can also still be expected in advertisements as much as is possible.
The Astera Health name and logo will be introduced over the next year with both names appearing until the opening of the center in 2023.
