New Name: Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital

I missed this news item last September, but on a recent trip through Indianapolis to Chicago, I noticed that the children’s hospital at St. Vincent is now named Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.

Peyton Manning is a great quarterback, terrific pitch man, and steward for the NFL.  His popularity in Indiana is unrivaled.

Usually rebranding of hospitals includes the addition of a corporation’s name to the hospital’s handle (to the tune of a sizable donation).

While Peyton Manning has probably made some kind of financial commitment to the hospital, the size of that gift (and poential for future giving) is not likely as large as that of a corporation.

However…

Renaming the hospital to honor a living, still-playing, professional athlete is a very interesting strategic move.  And one I am quite fond of.  Manning has the ability to leverage his fame to encourage multiple corporations (and individuals) to strongly support the hospital—not just a few.  Further, considering Manning’s popularity amongst the people of Indiana, especially in Indianapolis, this is a good move to increase patient encounters.  There are people making care decisions that will select the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital over competition based on the hospital’s affiliation with the athlete alone.

It would be interesting to see year-to-year comparisons for the three-year period on the impact of this decision in September 2010.