Meet the Media Team

Dana Allen

Senior V.P. and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

(502) 420-4140
dana.allen@nortonhealthcare.org
Dana Allen is responsible for key branding initiatives for Norton Healthcare, as well as public relations and internal communications strategy. A Louisville native, she attended the University of Mississippi and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisville and a Master of Business Administration degree with a focus in marketing from Vanderbilt University. She is a graduate of Brown-Forman Leaders Camp, Bingham Fellows, Leadership Louisville and Darden Leadership, University of Virginia.

Maggie Roetker

Director, Public Relations

(502) 420-4157
maggie.roetker@nortonhealthcare.org
Maggie Roetker has a master’s degree in public relations from Ball State University coupled with more than 20 years of direct communications and public relations experience, 15 of those at Norton Healthcare. She also has worked for what is now Franciscan St. Francis Health – Indianapolis, Clark Memorial Hospital and the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville.

Lynne Choate

Public Relations Manager

(502) 420-4143
lynne.choate@nortonhealthcare.org
Lynne Choate came to Norton Healthcare with more than 14 years of health care communications experience. She sees great value in partnering with all media outlets to share health education and information. Choate is a self-proclaimed news junkie and works diligently to get requested information to the media as quickly as possible.

Joe Hall

Public Relations Manager

(502) 420-4149
joe.hall@nortonhealthcare.org
A former reporter for 840 WHAS and the Kentucky News Network, Joe Hall has a knack for helping journalists get to the heart of the story quickly and effectively. Hall also has communications/public relations experience in a variety of industries, including economic development, nonprofit and hospitality/entertainment.

Menisa Marshall

Public Relations Manager

(502) 420-4150
menisa.marshall@nortonhealthcare.org
Menisa Marshall has more than 25 years of experience in communications and public relations with various organizations, plus freelance writing and consulting. Her work has earned numerous professional association awards. Marshall has served in leadership locally and regionally with the Public Relations Society of America.

Erica Coghill

Public Relations Manager

(502) 420-4145
erica.coghill@nortonhealthcare.org
Erica Coghill joined Norton Healthcare’s public relations team in July 2017, after serving as the spokesperson for Louisville Metro Animal Services. Prior to entering the world of public relations, Erica spent nearly 10 years in the television news business. She wrapped up her journalism career in 2016 at the local CBS affiliate, WLKY News, where she worked as a reporter. Erica has a passion for sharing people’s stories. She looks forward to working with members of the media to help connect them with medical experts and patients, in hopes of keeping the community informed. Erica understands from first-hand experience what it takes to bring a story to life, as well as the pressure of deadlines that come along with the process.

Patient condition reports

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) established guidelines on releasing information about patients. Norton Children’s Hospital and Norton Healthcare follow these guidelines and will provide information to the media as allowed. The majority of the time this will be a one-word condition report: undetermined, good, fair, serious or critical. The death of a patient will be reported only after sufficient time has passed to notify the family.

Patients have the right to opt out of release of information. In this case, no condition report will be given, including confirmation that the patient is in a Norton Healthcare facility. In addition, no condition report will be given when children are in custody of Child Protective Services.

To learn more about how medical information may be used and disclosed, and how you can access health information, read the HIPAA notice of privacy practices.

To receive a condition report, members of the media must have the correct spelling of the patient’s first and last names.

Patient condition report definitions

The majority of the time, the media will be provided a one-word condition report:

• Undetermined: Patient is awaiting assessment
• Good: Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious and comfortable. Indicators are excellent.
• Fair: Vital signs are stable and within normal limits. Patient is conscious but may be uncomfortable. Indicators are favorable.
• Serious: Vital signs may be unstable and not within normal limits. Patient is acutely ill. Indicators are questionable.
• Critical: Vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient may not be conscious. Indicators are unfavorable.

Media experts

Norton Healthcare has specialists who can speak on cutting-edge medical topics, trends and procedures in the region. If you’d like to interview one of our physicians or specialists on any of the topics below, call our media relations team at (502) 629-2999.

Pediatric Care

• Adolescent gynecology
• Anesthesiology
• Cardiology/cardiothoracic surgery
• Child advocacy (safety, burns, abuse, nutrition/fitness)
• Concussions
• Diabetes
• Drug dependance in newborns (neonatal abstinence syndrome)
• Emergency medicine
• Endocrinology
• General pediatrics
• General surgery
• High-risk pregnancy
• Infectious diseases
• Neonatal medicine
• Neurology
• Neurosurgery
• Neurosurgical epilepsy program
• New cancer treatment technology and research
• Oncology
• Orthopedics
• Pathology
• Pharmacology
• Psychology
• Radiology
• Sports health
• Toxicology (poison)
• Urology