In the health care sector in Switzerland a new legislation is in place. Governmental hospitals become now former governmental hospitals and have to be profitable themselves and therefore stand in direct competition with private ones. New ways to reach stakeholders are essential to the former governmental institutions. Therefore the question arises whether Social Media could be an appropriate tool for an institution such as the Psychiatrie Baselland to activate a dialogue with stakeholders and to improve the brand positioning.

The methodology applied consisted of a desk research and telephone interviews. The desk research is based on current theory, studies, articles and research data out of a conducted observation. 24 hospitals were observed during two months in regards to the application of Social Media. With eight out of the observed hospitals telephone interviews were conducted. Based on the desk research and interviews, trends in the health care sector and possible Social Media tools for the Psychiatrie Baselland became evident.

The majority of the observed hospitals use Social Media already, however application vary according to the organization. The most used tool is Facebook. However, based on the desk research and telephone interviews it becomes obvious, that the trend of recruiting personnel through Social Media, such as Xing, is growing. Especially since the supply of qualified personnel is short. Furthermore, most institution believe that the relevance of Social Media increases in the near future to their institutions as well as to the whole sector. Following the trend of the market analysis and the business proposition of the Psychiatrie Baselland, it is proposed that the Psychiatrie Baselland should act as a first mover in comparison with the main competitor and integrate a Weblog as the main focus as well as Xing, Twitter and Facebook within the next one and a half year since opportunities to reach stakeholders and foster business goals exist with Social Media for the institution.