About The NENCPPH
What is the Partnership?
The Northeastern North Carolina Partnership for Public Health (NENCPPH) was formed in 1999 to improve the health of people in the Northeastern region of North Carolina and to maximize the available resources and service potential of local health departments by working together to address health needs. The Partnership is guided by a governing board comprised of nine local health department directors, whose health departments serve 15 counties in Northeastern North Carolina; and representatives from the North Carolina Division of Public Health, the North Carolina Institute for Public Health at the University of North Carolina, and the Masters in Public Health Department at East Carolina University.
The NENCPPH region includes the following counties in Northeastern NC: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Edgecombe, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Warren.
Funding for the Partnership has come from outside, as well as local, sources. In 2002, the NENCPPH received a federal grant that funded a demonstration project to explore a regional approach to the delivery of core public health functions. These funds supported a Regional Epidemiologist, Regional Health Educator/Health Disparities Coordinator and half-time Director through April 2006. The membership continues to support a half-time Coordinator through annual dues and per capita assessments.
In the past, the NENCPPH received funds from the Health and Wellness Trust Fund for a Regional Teen Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program in the high schools, a College Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Program in the region's community colleges and Chowan University, and an Obesity/Diabetes Prevention and Control Program in African American churches.
The NC Office of Minority Health provided funds for the HIV Disease Prevention planning and prostate cancer awareness campaign.
The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust Fund provided augmentation funds for a medical van.
The NC General Assembly awarded funds to the Partnership in 2004 and 2005 to improve the public health infrastructure in the region and to conduct health information campaigns to prevent Obesity and Diabetes.
The NENCPPH's governing board oversees all activities. Two health departments provide the fiduciary management of the Partnership's funds, space and other resources for regional staff.
Why was the NENCPPH formed?
Since 1999, the members of the governing board have been exploring a regional approach to providing core public health functions, which are:1. Assessing community health needs and health issues
2. Addressing those needs and issues by developing policies and programs
3. Assuring availability and accessibility of health services to the entire population
In more recent years, the health departments in this region, like many others in rural areas, have had to invest more time, money and effort in providing direct health services (core function 3), and, as a result, have been unable to adequately address the other primary functions (core functions 1 and 2). The region's health departments are especially challenged because out of the original 19 counties making up the Partnership, 13 of them were designated as "Tier One" counties, meaning they are among the most economically depressed in North Carolina. Approximately the same percentage, 67%, of the Partnership's counties are still considered Tier I as of 2011; 10 out of the 15 counties currently comprising the Partnership are designated Tier I counties. In addition, compared to the rest of the state, mortality rates from many illnesses are elevated in this region.
(Bottom Image: Management Team and the Accreditation Site Survey Team pose for a post exit conference picture. From left to right-William Smith, surveyor, Carl Carol, surveyor, Barbara Earley, AAC, Brittan Woods, State Accreditation Coordinator, Ramona Bowser, Co-Interim Health Director, Carol Wray, surveyor, Diane McLawhorn, Co-Interim Health Director, Sharon Owen, surveyor and Susan Askew.)
