Rye, Winchelsea and District Memorial Hospital and the Hub on Rye Hill have announced they will officially be rebranded under a single name. From later this month it will be called Rye Health and Care.
The official launch will take place on 28 July and will be marked by the introduction of a brand new identity and logo.
The charity which runs both the hospital and hub says the rebranding marks a historic step forward for healthcare and wellbeing in the district. By bringing the hospital charity and the community hub under one single leadership team, the organisation hopes to simplify how residents access local care, protect long term funding and expand future services.
“This is an evolution built on shared values,” said Charlotte Kneer, the CEO of the hospital. “While our name and look are changing, our core mission remains exactly the same: bringing health and care services closer to home. Uniting our teams makes us stronger and more resilient for the future.”
She said the rebranding will mean zero disruption to daily services. “All medical clinics, hospital care and community hub activities will continue seamlessly.”
The new identity and website will go live on 28 July. Further details regarding the official launch day will be shared with the community over the coming weeks.
Image Credits: Hub on the Hill .
Why?
Everyone knows the Rye and Winchelsea Memorial Hospital, the key word being Memorial, in memory of local men killed in WW1.
And we’ve come to know and appreciate the Hub on the Hill, built a few years ago, partly using public donations.
If nothing is changing, why is rebranding necessary.
What is the point of changing the name, especially to one as vague as Rye Health and Care which tells you nothing and makes it sound like a clinic.
I find it confusing to know what this beautiful building offers.
Is it a wellness centre or use for private meetings?
It has many private rooms and for example I paid for a private ancupuncture appointment there.
If it’s a community hub why not have a Well Women or Well Men’s service there open for all.
Plenty of opportunity for confusing Rye Health & Care with Rye Medical, the GP clinic next door. How frustrating for new visitors., and how limited ithe consideration in choosing the “new” name. In addition, how disrespectful to discard the “memorial” aspect of the site. Is there a new broom wanting to sweep away our history?
I quite agree with Mr. McGrath if nothing is wrong why change. Not only is it in memory of those killed in WW1 but it did amazing work during WW2 treating injured soldiers and even prisoners of war. A Miss Price was the Matron at the time and she told my mother in law, Sister Wood, whom some may remember, of the hard work that was done during the war. I have lived here for 69 years and it will always be Rye Memorial Hospital to me whatever they choose to call it in future. DaisyWood.
I quite agree with Chris. If it ain’t broke…..
There will also be a large expense caused by re-printing of the information and the new logo.
Surely as a charity extra/unnecessary expense is the last thing they need.
Simplify indeed!
I’m trying to register for hearing aid care, a process that was really simple but now involves an outside agency.
To register I need a referral from my GP, the receptionist looked a bit blank when I showed her the email with directions on how to register.
A case of making simple thing hard but then doesn’t that just sum up the NHS
It looks like another case of the NHS putting things out to contract.
As for the name? It’s always been Rye Memorial Hospital but those of us who can even remember back to when it was a real fully functioning hospital it will alway be just Rye Hospital.
We fought to save our precious Rye Memorial Hospital; we marched up the hill with Paul & Linda McCartney when it was threatened with closure. There were celebrations when it was rebuilt & finally opened again.
It seems disrespectful to discard the name after so many years.
I agree with all of the above correspondence letters concerning NOT changing the Rye, Winchelsea District Memorial Hospital name ( commonly known as Rye Hospital ) to Rye Health & Care incorporating The Hub centre.
Unfortunately this name rebranding will be yet another community confusing white elephant and will only directly apply to new residents now living in the Ancient Town Rye and surrounding villages.
The name “Rye Hospital” plus all the past memories will never change.
As Chief Executive of the Charity, I would like to clarify a few important points.
Firstly, neither the name of the hospital building nor the site itself is changing. The hospital will continue to be known as Rye Memorial Hospital, and the site will remain The Memorial Care Centre. These names are an important part of our community’s history and heritage, and we remain fully committed to preserving and respecting that legacy.
What is changing is the name and branding of the Charity. Over the past 30 years, the Charity has evolved significantly. While continuing to provide vital support to Rye Memorial Hospital, we now also own and operate The Hub and deliver a much broader range of services that support the health and wellbeing of our local community.
Today, the Charity funds and delivers services that respond directly to local need, including free psychotherapy for young people aged 11–18, free counselling for adults, and financial support for organisations such as Rye Community Transport and the Sara Lee Trust, alongside many other initiatives. The Charity has grown beyond its original role, and the rebrand is intended to better reflect the breadth of the work we now undertake and the people we support.
We recognise that the strong reaction to this announcement reflects just how much people care about the Memorial Hospital and what it represents. However, many of the comments also highlight that there remains some confusion about the Charity’s role and the range of services it provides. One of the key aims of the rebrand is to improve understanding of our work while ensuring that the Memorial Hospital’s history, values and reputation remain at the heart of everything we do.
We would also like to reassure supporters that the cost of the rebrand has been kept to a minimum, with the vast majority of the work being undertaken in-house. This has allowed us to make these changes in a cost-effective way while ensuring that charitable funds remain focused on supporting services for local people.
We welcome constructive discussion and would encourage anyone who would like to learn more about the Charity, our services and the reasons behind the rebrand to join us at our community event at The Hub on Tuesday 28 July, between 10am and 2pm (full details to follow). We look forward to answering questions and sharing more about our plans for the future.
I feel completely addled – does the hospital remain Rye, Winchelsea & District Memorial Hospital and the Hub remain the Hub? I’m afraid I do not understand what the ‘rebranding’ refers to and what the purpose of it is.
Rye & District Community Transport’s Dial-a-Ride service (for people with mobility issues) has been supported for many years by Rye, Winchelsea & District Memorial Hospital for which we are hugely grateful (also by Icklesham Parish Council, Rye Town Council and East Sussex County Council) and our Dial-a-Ride bus proudly carries that name which shows to people as the bus travels around how vital and important the Hospital is to our community almost 105 years after it was first opened.
Why rebrand the charity at all? The people are interested in the hospital and the Hub, and what they are called.
This is like Fenway Sports rebranding themselves as, say, British and American Sporting Opportunities, when people all round the world only care that Liverpool FC is and remains Liverpool FC.
In the five years I have lived and run a business in Rye, I am very aware of the lack of public understanding concerning the site incorporating the Hospital, Hub and Rye Medical centre. A lot of my customers, mainly Rye residents, unless they are registered at the GP surgery, have had relatives stay at the Hospital or been referred themselves to Outpatients do not know of the outstanding and numerous facilities on offer .The Charity rebranding will bring a fresh awareness of what is is available to the community, from the convenience of not having to travel to the Conquest for certain hospital appointments to enjoying the community space at the Hub for refreshments, treatments, meeting friends and much more..
I’m not sure if I’ve missed something. Rye Memorial Hospital is retaining its name, but what about the Hub? The site will still be The Memorial Care Centre, but I can’t see whether The Hub on Rye Hill will still be known as that.
Will The Hub become an extension of Rye Memorial Hospital? If it is becoming an extension of the Hospital, will that impact on any of the activities and services currently facilitated through the Hub? I guess this will all become clear at the rebranding event.
I wonder if the rebranding committee approached Paul Macca as he was very involved in the helping to fund the hospital ! Always a bit suspicious of these new names invented to make things more attractive but more management to subsidise .
Having re-read this article – and the comments – several times now, I’m still none the wiser. It seems to be “the Charity” itself that is undergoing a rebrand with a new logo and name, but nothing is mentioned regarding the charity’s existing name. Do we even know what that is? Does it matter? Surely this rebrand is a prime example of corporate idiocy, something I wouldn’t expect to find within a charitable institution.
PS. “Rye Memorial Hospital & Hub” (RMHH) might be a more acceptable new name for “the Charity” – that is, if it needs to be changed at all?!
As far as I’m aware, the charity has always been ‘Rye Health and Care Ltd’ so what has actually changed?
Service users probably won’t be affected by this ‘rebranding’ and it could have passed under the radar if not reported here in such a confusing way.