Patricia Montone Charvat, senior vice president for marketing and strategy for Mohawk Valley Health Systems in Utica, speaks about crisis communication to Media Writing class students. Photo by Megan Wright

Students in CMM 261 Media Writing took a break from the norm on Friday, April 19 and listened to a presentation from Patricia Montone Charvat, senior vice president for marketing and strategy for Mohawk Valley Health Systems in Utica. 

Charvat is a 1983 graduate of the public relations and journalism program at Utica University and was selected as Raymond Simon Institute’s 2024 Outstanding Alumnus. She was also honored at an awards ceremony on Saturday, April 20 in Donahue Concourse.

Charvat, who is also an adjunct lecturer of public relations at Utica University, spoke to students about crisis communication and how to immediately react when a crisis happens. 

“When a crisis happens, internal communication is the most important thing to do in the first 48 minutes,” Charvat said. “It is important to let everyone in the organization know about the crisis first before it spreads to the public.” 

Public opinion impacts the organization’s image heavily, which is why organizations must maintain their reputation especially after a crisis happens. 

Charvat said being honest is important to maintain the organization’s reputation because credibility is everything. The organization needs to apologize and communicate frequently with the people involved, including owning the mistake and fixing it. 

Since the majority of students in attendance were communication, pubic relations, marketing and management majors, Charvat told them it is important to constantly scan their environment so they can properly assess and manage a situation.

“Most crises are not unexpected events,” she said. “Most crises are due to poor management and bad decisions.”