The Mayo Clinic, known for treating international leaders, recently saw the president of a central Africa country in its halls.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, was in Rochester, New York, for a checkup, clinic officials confirmed. Security officers and limousines—not an uncommon sight in Rochester—signaled his visit.
Nguema Mbasogo assumed the leadership of his country with a coup that overthrew his uncle. His country recently began working with the U.S. Agency for International Development, under the leadership of a dean of the University of
Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, to improve Equatorial Guinea’s social services. Dean J. Brian
Atwood of the institute is overseeing this effort. He went to
Equatorial Guinea in June, and a second meeting is scheduled for this month.
The Mayo Clinic has a long international history, providing care to international patients since its inception. Despite its history and reputation, however, the marketing staff continues to monitor the international market to gauge the level of awareness, reputation, and attractiveness of the Mayo Clinic around the world.
This institution has used word-of-mouth marketing to maintain its global reputation.
Marketing, as most formally defined, historically was not a critical factor in delivering patients to Mayo Clinic. Indeed, the marketing department at Mayo Clinic has existed for only the past
20 years, and patients have been coming for care for more than a century. The Clinic believes that the marketing department provides valuable information to physicians and their support staff— information that helps them deliver better care, highlights their patients’ wants and needs, and educates them as to what’s going on in the marketplace.
In reality, however, it’s the providers themselves—the doctors, nurses, receptionists, and all the