North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors

An older woman wearing a mask and face shield sits in the front seat of a passenger vehicle holding papers and talking to an RN who will be giving her a COVID vaccine shot.

Coronavirus Today – Jan. 26 Clearing vaccine backlog; Clash with providers, distribution tweaks; Find your vaccine group

January 26, 2021 by Anne Blythe

Coronavirus Today – Jan. 26 Clearing vaccine backlog; Clash with providers, distribution tweaks; Find your vaccine group - North Carolina Health News

After facing criticism for slow vaccine administration, North Carolina clears backlog and tweaks its distribution process.

By Anne Blythe The push to get large numbers of COVID-19 vaccines administered in North Carolina to signal to federal authorities that the state can and will deplete its allotted weekly doses created friction with health care providers over the weekend and led to another distribution plan tweak. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department […]

A county by county map of US colored to show opioid death risk, including access to medication-assisted treatment

Forty-one N.C. counties classified as “high risk” in new opioid study

July 23, 2019 by Yen Duong

Forty-one N.C. counties classified as “high risk” in new opioid study - North Carolina Health News

In a national study, researchers classified 41 North Carolina counties as “opioid high-risk” with few providers of medication-assisted treatment and many opioid-related deaths.

By Yen Duong While conversations about the national opioid epidemic often focus on hardest-hit states such as Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, few people have analyzed county-by-county trends, where those state’s policies can make a difference. But a new study, published last month in an open-access version of the Journal of the American Medical Association, […]

NC Counties Gear Up for Accreditation Tests by Looking at Local Needs

August 15, 2018 by Thomas Goldsmith

NC Counties Gear Up for Accreditation Tests by Looking at Local Needs - North Carolina Health News

Each NC local health department has to achieve accreditation based on more than 100 standards, based on a pioneering legislative fiat.

By Thomas Goldsmith When leaders in Anson County looked at public health needs recently, childhood obesity emerged as one of the most troubling trends among the county’s 26,000 citizens. Statistics show that more than a third of adults are obese in Anson, located about 60 miles southeast of Charlotte. And county health director Fred Thompson […]

Shows a young African American man in contemplation, he's holding a child close to his chest.

A Call for Gun Violence Prevention

March 23, 2018 by Catherine Clabby

A Call for Gun Violence Prevention - North Carolina Health News

If North Carolina can fight opioid overdoses, advocates ask, why not recognize and treat gun violence as a public health threat too?

By Catherine Clabby Rocky Mount police chief James Moore brought a blunt question to a statewide meeting of county health directors in Raleigh last year. Why don’t more public health professionals work to the reduce gun violence that disproportionately kills black citizens in this state? State data obtained by North Carolina Health News confirmed the […]

Public Health Directors Strategize for Uncertain Future

January 27, 2016 by Editor

Public Health Directors Strategize for Uncertain Future - North Carolina Health News

Health reform and now Medicaid reform have changed funding streams for local public health departments. The state’s health directors gathered last week to learn from one another how to survive.

By Rose Hoban In the past five years, state budget dollars for public health departments have been cut, a federal fund for public health prevention has been exhausted and health departments face retroactive cuts to Medicaid reimbursements back to 2011. Now the income stream provided to health departments by Medicaid is likely to change dramatically […]

Local Health Directors Eye Future Warily

January 26, 2015 by Editor

Local Health Directors Eye Future Warily - North Carolina Health News

In a time of constant change and budget cuts, directors of North Carolina’s local health departments ponder how they’ll maintain public health services. By Rose Hoban At the annual meeting of North Carolina’s state health directors last week in Raleigh, small knots of people gathered in the halls and the backs of conference rooms, all […]

McCrory, Wos Talk Reform, While Public Health Leaders Ponder Their Future

January 24, 2014 by Editor

McCrory, Wos Talk Reform, While Public Health Leaders Ponder Their Future - North Carolina Health News

Gov. Pat McCrory and Health and Human Services Sec. Aldona Wos came to the State Health Directors’ meeting where they focused on big picture. But local public health officials are looking to insure the viability of public health into the future. By Rose Hoban Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Aldona Wos brought Gov. […]

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