Press Releases

Rowan County EMS' Daniel Medina and Aaron Thurston claimed top honors following the 27th Annual Paramedic Competition, held at the Koury Convention Center during the annual Emergency Medicine Today Conference.

Statement from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on its audit of Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions: After the Office of the State Auditor found unreasonable spending by Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions, DHHS sent auditors to conduct a detailed examination and determined that in addition to the excessive salary for the CEO, several employees have severance allowances that may stretch to 36 months. This is excessive and raises concerns about the entity's solvency and ability to continue to provide services in the event of a significant change in its leadership team. Cardinal should immediately bring its salary/compensation package for its CEO in line with the other LME/MCOs, and shed its excessive severance offerings. DHHS will continue to monitor Cardinal's performance.

The N.C. Department of Health Human Services' Division of Social Services collaborated with the Office of State Budget and Management, which today released a request for proposal seeking a qualified vendor to conduct assessments of the state's current social services and child welfare programs and develop a comprehensive plan for reform. Proposals are due Nov. 16, and a contract will be in place by March 1, 2018.

The percentage of North Carolina adults who reported smoking cigarettes in 2016 is the lowest ever recorded, 17.9 percent. Despite this milestone, North Carolina's smoking rate remains slightly higher than the national rate of 17.1 percent, and smoking continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in our state.

North Carolina First Lady Kristin Cooper joined State Health Director Betsey Tilson, M.D., on Tuesday at Wake County Human Services to encourage North Carolinians to get vaccinated against the flu.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is sending a mobile, five-bed emergency department, a six-bed in-patient ward and diagnostic equipment to Marathon, Fla. after Hurricane Irma heavily damaged a 25-bed hospital.

Multiple North Carolina counties have reported power outages related to the effects of Hurricane Irma. As people use alternative sources of power, North Carolina health officials are cautioning people about the risk of using gasoline-powered equipment in enclosed spaces.

As part of its ongoing investigation, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality this week urged Chemours to stop discharging two additional chemical compounds into the Cape Fear River. The compounds were identified in the company's waste stream by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency preliminary analysis shared with the state this week.

DHHS has established a Payers' Council to bring together health care payers across the state to partner on benefit design, member services and pharmacy policies to reduce opioid misuse and overdose.

A measuring tool with a radioactive component used to test density in soil compaction during construction was recovered Friday morning after the report it went missing Thursday night.