NC Prevention Partners Names New Board Members
Posted: 07-01-2009 : CHAPEL, HILL, N.C.

CHAPEL HILL, NC - NC Prevention Partners (NCPP) has named three new members to its Board of Directors. Dr. Jeffrey Engel, State Health Director; Paula Collins, Senior Policy Advisor, State Board of Education; and Bess Ramey, Senior Account Manager for Corporate and Government Customers with Pfizer have joined the board effective today. NCPP is a statewide leader in reducing preventable illness and early death from tobacco use, physical inactivity, poor nutrition and obesity. "We are honored to announce our newest board members," said NCPP President & CEO Dr. Meg Molloy. "Our board cares deeply about prevention and is working hard with us to make it easier to be healthy in North Carolina. We express our sincere thanks to board members whose terms ended this year: former State Health Director Leah Devlin; Rebecca Garland, Chief Academic Officer (State Board of Education), and Dr. David Boerner (UnitedHealthcare of the Carolinas). And we greatly miss our dear friend and colleague, former Insurance Commissioner Jim Long." NC Prevention Partners' Board of Directors

• Peg O'Connell, JD, Board Chair, Manager of External Affairs, National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
• Gregg M. Stave, MD, JD, MPH, Board Vice Chair, Consultant, Occupational Medicine & Corporate Health
• Gary L. Park, Board Secretary, President, UNC Hospitals
• Pam P. Highsmith, Board Treasurer, MEd, CEO, Poe Center for Health Education
• Paula Collins, Senior Policy Advisor, Healthy Responsible Students, NC State Board of Education
• John G. Currin, Jr., President and CEO, Alamance Regional Medical Center
• Jeffrey Engel, MD, State Health Director, NC Department of Health & Human Services
• Charles T. Frock, CEO, FirstHealth of the Carolinas
• Christopher Kennedy, Regional Director, PBM Sales, Walgreens Health Initiatives
• Eugenie Komives, MD, Vice President and Senior Medical Director, BlueCross BlueShield of NC
• Denese D. Lavender, MS, Assistant Director for Mobility, NC Dept. of Transportation
• Kenneth J. Lewis, President and CEO, FirstCarolinaCare Insurance Company, Inc.
• Diana M. Mason, Vice President, Scott Benefit Services
• David R. Moore, CLU, Past President, NC Association of Health Underwriters
• Robert S. Parker, Vice President, Special Operations & Community Health, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
• William A. Pully, President, NC Hospital Association
• Bess Ramey, Senior Account Manager, Corporate and Government Customers, Pfizer Inc.
• Marci Wilding, Director of Government Relations, Novant Health

NC Prevention Partners (NCPP) - Major Accomplishments of the Past Year

Making NC Hospitals Even Better. As of July 6, 2009, NCPP's hospital program will have guided all acute care hospitals in the state to go 100% tobacco-free campus wide. Half of NC hospitals are also working on action plans to ensure that healthy foods are more available, visible and affordable. www.ncpreventionpartners.org/hospitals.

Helping NC work healthier. NCPP's Workplace Health Assessment is a simple, online tool that evaluates healthy workplace policies and guides employers to help employees quit tobacco, eat healthier and get more physical activity at work. www.ncprevention.com.

Using data to promote prevention. This Spring, we issued our 2009 statewide Prevention Report Card update, which grades North Carolina on healthy behaviors, environments and policies. www.ncpreventionpartners.org/reportcard.

Strengthening youth. Our Zone Health Youth Obesity Prevention Program helps schools build better physical activity and nutrition policies. In the past year, we trained 18 NC school teams across nearly a dozen districts. NCPP is developing an interactive website that will help coordinate childhood obesity prevention efforts across the state. www.ncpreventionpartners.org/schools.

Helping health care providers connect patients with lifesaving resources. Our award winning Starting the Conversation tools help doctors talk to their patients about quitting tobacco, healthier eating, getting more physical activity and better managing blood pressure and cholesterol. www.ncpreventionpartners.org/startingtheconversation.

Increasing demand for preventive health benefits. NCPP continued its Health Plan Prevention Roundtable series with a focus on tobacco prevention, behavioral health and obesity. As part of this discussion, NCPP maintains our Preventive Benefits Profile, a comparative listing of preventive health benefits offered in North Carolina. www.ncpreventionpartners.org/preventivebenefits.

Read our ten year report online at http://www.ncpreventionpartners.org/index.html?page=2008annualreport.html.