Washington, DC

Today, the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority (HBX) is proud to announce their recognition, along with communications firm Weber Shandwick, for excellence in producing a community relations campaign for the first Open Enrollment Period. DC Health Link and Weber Shandwick were selected from more than 300 public relations campaigns across the nation and named as finalists in the category of “Community Relations Campaign of the Year” by PR Week, a leading public relations trade magazine.

“I am very proud of our team and our Director of Communications and External Affairs, Linda Wharton Boyd. Linda’s creativity and limitless energy helped us cut the uninsured rate in the District by nearly half,” said Mila Kofman, J.D., HBX Executive Director. “DC Health Link’s community outreach and enrollment events were some of the most creative in the country and were effective in reaching ‘young invincibles’ and other ‘hard to reach’ populations.”

DC Health Link and Weber Shandwick were honored for DC Health Link’s successful first open enrollment period campaign “Reaching People Where They Live, Work, Play, and Pray.” DC Health Link’s enrollment campaign received national attention for innovative techniques used to reach District residents with creative enrollment events. Locations for these “outside-the-box” enrollment events included popular bars and late-night diners, ice skating venues, laundromats and churches.

"We are ecstatic and honored to be selected as a finalist among so many amazing campaigns,” said Linda Wharton Boyd HBX Director of Communications and External Affairs.  “As nice as it is to have our work nominated for this prestigious award, the real measure of success is the number of residents who now have health insurance coverage through DC Health Link.”

PR Week presented the 2015 PR Week Awards winners in New York City on Thursday.  Linda Wharton Boyd represented DC Health Link at the awards ceremony.