1. Beehives
Why?
After Atanasio was shown an observation hive by a beekeeper, he saw the hospital having its own hives as a marketing idea and a way “to create a feeling of uniqueness for our staff and our organization” by offering products created from the bees’ hard work, such as honey and lip balm.
How?
Atanasio works with an apiary to maintain 10 hives and harvest the honey; then, his team creates the lip balm and labels its products with a logo and packaging created in-house. “We look to bring enough money in to offset the cost of the hives, but [we don’t look to] make money because the program is really driven around our patients and community,” Atanasio says.
The result
Honey, lip balm and hand lotion, all available in the hospital’s gift shop.