Office of Health Equity

The Office of Health Equity (OHE) works to eliminate health disparities for all individuals and keeps communities healthy, safe, and connected to needed resources and services. OHE serves with a partnership-driven approach.  

Diverse groups, individuals, leaders, ambassadors, and advocates that work together make the greatest impact. By joining together, our OHE partnerships help identify barriers, share resources, service linkages, and influence possible solutions, policies, and systems changes to reduce the burden of health disparities, and improve access issues.

OHE serves as a convenor, connector, and ambassador for health equity, diversity, and inclusion. We provide inclusive leadership and guidance with an equity framework to drive innovative strategies and policy through a collective impact approach.

OHE uses data to help lead and guide a health equity call for action, engage influencers, and equip others with knowledge, and resource linkages.  

OHE believes, “Everyone has a role in the process of achieving equity.”  

Want to get involved? Visit our Health Equity Resource Hub (link to “OHE Resources Child Page”) to connect to resources.

Mission: Our mission is to promote and advocate for the elimination of disparities and improve health equity, especially in populations historically marginalized in North Carolina. OHE helps to lead an agency-wide strategy that aims to integrate health equity into all that we do.  

Vision: All North Carolinians have the opportunity to attain the highest level of good health possible regardless of race/ethnicity, disability, sexuality and gender identity, socioeconomic status, or other differences.

In 2021, the NCDHHS established the Secretary’s Health Equity Portfolio (HEP or Portfolio) and hired its first Chief Health Equity Officer to lead the Portfolio and champion equitable health outcomes for the 10 million North Carolinians served, and to support internal workforce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. The Portfolio is comprised of three Offices: the Office of Rural Health, a new Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and the Office of Health Equity (OHE).  

NCDHHS' Office of Health Equity has been in place for over 15 years (formerly the Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities). OHE continues to lead and build on the work and history of its office and serve as a 1) Health Equity Call for Action Center, 2) Data Resource Center, 3) Partner and Community Engagement Center, and 4) Equity Training & Resource Hub Center.

Learn More About Who We Are

Health Equity Resource Hub: Visit OHE’s Data and Statistics Center