The role of public relations towards establishing organizational image at hospitals and one emprical study at the Kütahya Hospital Social Insurances Organizational

VI ABSTRACT General judgments exist regarding how association and institutions are known, recognized or perceived in public opinion. These judgments constitute institutional image. On account of institutional image's giving association and intuitions an impression of being superior or having different aspects than other association and intuitions, it provides significant advantages. For instance, the demand against the goods or services supplied by association and intuitions having strong institutional image is higher. Institutional image not only provides many institutions for superiority in competition but also contributes to their accommodation with internal and other environment. Cooperation chances increase. Although activities of public relations are effective in reinforcing institutional image which is so important for association and institutional, in many institutions there does not exists public relations unit. But despite of lack of such unit, activities public relations are realized in many institutions. Also in hospitals, being a public institution, many important reforms are realized. Though there is no unit of public relations in hospital, recently, in the scope of quality control many activities of public relations have been seen. In SSK (Social Insurance Organization) hospital in Kütahya, a research has been made about the role of public relations in making up institutional image in hospitals. By this research, the sick, staff and in other environment media and trade union's perception of hospital image and outlook on the role of public opinion in institutional image of hospital have been studied. As a result of research, it is found out that activities of public relations, especially those done in the scope quality control, have deep effects on hospital's institutional image.