Even in rural upstate New York, hospitals face intense competition. A large regional medical center, with its state-of-the-art reputation, was drawing patients away from the local community hospital, Columbia Memorial. Folks needed to know that their nearby hospital was just as capable of meeting their needs. In some ways, more so.

A series of ads focusing on the many ways Columbia Memorial makes a difference in people's lives every day. Here are two that I wrote - one celebrating the hospital's dedicated nurses, and one extolling its new state-of-the art emergency department - that went a long way towards changing people's perception about the quality care that's there for them right in their own backyard.