Northeastern North Carolina
Partnership for Public Health
www.nencpph.net
Beaufort  Bertie  Camden  Chowan  Currituck  Dare  Edgecombe  Gates  Halifax
Hertford  Hyde Martin  Northampton  Pasquotank  Perquimans  Tyrrell  Washington
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 the Directors from nine
local health departments which serve 17 counties in Northeastern North Carolina, as well as representatives from the North Carolina
Division of Public Health, the North Carolina Institute for Public Health at the University of North Carolina, and the Department of
Public Health Department at East Carolina University. The NENCPPH region includes the following counties in Northeastern North
Carolina: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Edgecombe, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Northampton,
Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington.
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
What is the vision of the NENCPPH?
to explore a regional approach to the
delivery of core public health functions.
These funds supported a Regional
Epidemiologist, Regional Health
Healthy Communities
Educator/Health Disparities Coordinator
and half-time Director through April 2006.
through Public Health
The membership continues to support a
half-time Coordinator through annual dues
and per capita assessments. More
recently, the NENCPPH has used funds from
Collaboration
the North Carolina Institute for Public
Health to support attendance at the InjuryFree NC Academy focusing on
prescription drug poisoning and overdose,
the creation of a Rabies CME Course, Regional Immunization Meetings/Conference, Faithful Families Eating Smart and Moving More
materials and funds for food demonstrations, and an intern to record the historical overview of the NENCPPH. The Partnership also
used NCIPH funds to update its health assessment of the region. In 2013, the NENCPPH was awarded Community Transformation
Grant funding to promote healthy lifestyles through billboards, gas pump toppers, and newspaper advertisements. In 2014, the
Centers for Disease Control and Promotion awarded the Albemarle Health Services, on behalf of the NENCPPH, funding for
Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH) to reduce tobacco use and improve nutrition. Prior to that, the NENCPPH
received funds from the NC Division of Public Health to support its heart disease/stroke prevention project and 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 Funds 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. Albemarle Regional Health Services provides the fiduciary management of
the Partnership’s funds, as well as office space and other resources for regional staff.
What is the mission of the NENCPPH?
Address common local public health needs through the sharing of resources and best practices regionally to achieve
greater efficiency and effectiveness.
What are the Goals of the NENCPPH?
1.
2.
3.
Regionally impact selected health indicators.
Position local health departments within the NECNPPH to be effective partners with Accountable Care
Organizations and other existing health care entities.
Advocate for Northeastern NC Counties’ public health needs and funding.
October 2015
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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 include:
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 17 counties making
up the Partnership, 15 of them, or 88% (2015), are designated as “Tier One” counties, meaning they are among the most
economically depressed in North Carolina. In addition, compared to the rest of the state, mortality rates from many illnesses are
elevated in this region.
Activities of NENCPPH






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Developing coordinated regional capacity to impact selected health indicators, especially obesity, tobacco cessation,
vaccine-preventable diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Implementing Faithful Families Eating Smart and Moving More program throughout the region.
Formation of a regional immunization team and facilitate regional immunization meetings to share information, and to
identify and implement regional strategies to improve the immunization rates in the region.
Exploration of a regional community health assessment and use of a common set of reporting requirements to improve
disease surveillance in the region.
Discussing and sharing ideas with others in the State on how to position local health departments within the NECNPPH to
be effective partners with Accountable Care Organizations and other existing health care entities.
Partnering to implement the Center for Disease Control and Prevention grants: Partnerships to Improve Community Health
and the Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention.
Networking with Healthy Carolinians task forces and other community coalitions and organizations to share ideas, identify
community needs and resources, and address health disparities and other public health concerns.
The NENCPPH Governing Board
Jerry Parks, NENCPPH Board Chair
Albemarle Regional Health Services Director
jparks@arhs-nc.org
John Graham
Senior Investigator, North Carolina Institute for Public Health
UNC-CH Gillings School of Global Public Health
David Howard, NENCPPH Board Vice Chair
Hyde County Health Department Director
jwgraham@email.unc.edu
dhoward@hydehealth.com
Karen Lachapelle, NENCPPH Board Secretary and Treasurer
Edgecombe County Health Department Director
N. Ruth Little
Vice Chair and Assistant Professor
Dept. of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine
East Carolina University
Karen.lachapelle@co.edgecombe.nc.us
LITTLENA@ecu.edu
Ramona Bowser
Hertford County Public Health Authority Health Director
James Madson
Beaufort County Health Department Director
Ramona.bpwser@hcpha.net
James.madson@bchd.net
Cardra Burns
Halifax County Public Health System Director
Phyllis Rocco
Head, Local Technical Assistance & Training Branch and Public
Health Nursing and Professional Dev.
Division of Public Health
NC Dept of Health and Human Services
burnsc@halifaxnc.com
Sheila Davies
Public Health Division Director
Dare County Department of Health and Human Services
Sheila.davies@darenc.com
Phyllis.rocco@dhhs.nc.gov
John White
Northampton County Health Department Interim Director
Terrell Davis
Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department Director
john.white@nhcnc.net
terrell.davis@mtwdistricthealth.org
The NENCPPH Staff
Julie Tunney, Coordinator, NENCPPH; jtunney@arhs-nc.org
October 2015
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