The 2011 survey shows smoking rates declining in middle school and high school.

NC Prevention Partners' first Jim Long Policy Fellow is working to amend a federal law that would allow Veteran's Affairs medical centers to become 100% tobacco free campuses.

Eight representatives from the Virginia based hospital system toured Rex Healthcare's wellness facility and cafeteria.

Congratulations to Vidant Health System for earning the Gold Star in all its hospitals! Several Vidant Health System hospitals also received Gold Apple status.

NC Prevention Partners' newly formed Policy Committee met for the first time on April 18, 2012.

Melva Fager Okun, Senior Program Manager at NC Prevention Partners, presented to physician groups at Wake Forest Baptist Health and Duke University Medical Center, and Carolinas Center of Medical Education. Picture L-R: Antonio Gutierrez, MD in charge of Duke Univ. Hospital Medicine Grand Round; Melva Fager Okun DrPH; Jeffrey Engel MPH; & Roy Pleasants PharmD,

Congratulations to Durham Regional Hospital for meeting all the requirements for Gold Star status!

Donna Borowski, Certified Intrinsic Coach from Mission Hospital in Asheville, will be our guest presenter.

Stanly Regional Medical Center is the latest NC hospital to meet all the requirements of a comprehensive tobacco cessation program for employees.

The ads use nursey rhymes to convey the message that secondhand smoke does not belong in a child's life.

As the first hospital to join the NYC Tobacco-Free Hospitals Campaign, as well as to achieve Bronze Star status, NYU Langone Medical Center is leading the way to help its employee and patient community quit tobacco and set an example for other New York City hospitals.

Following a celebration for winning the January Quitline Challenge, Wake Forest Baptist Health clinical leaders gathered for the first meeting of the WFBH Quit-Tobacco for Patients Committee.

NC Prevention Partners' Senior Program Manager, Dr. Melva Fager Okun, talks about North Carolina's tobacco cessation efforts in hospitals in a podcast by ActionToQuit.

NC Prevention Partners is proud to introduce Danielle Schramm as the first Jim Long Policy Fellow.

Dr. Erik Augustson, behavioral scientist at the Tobacco Control Research Branch of the National Cancer Institute will be a guest presenter.

Each month NC Prevention Partners sends the fax referral report from QuitlineNC to subscribers.

The Tobacco Cessation Coding and Reimbursement tool allows healthcare providers to see which health insurance plans reimburse for tobacco cessation counseling.

Dr. Melva Fager Okun presented the 5 Key Components of a Quit Tobacco System for Patients.

The report finds that tobacco marketing is a key factor in influencing young people to start using tobacco, and nicotine addiction keeps them using it.

Dr. Melva Fager Okun and Heather Berdanier traveled to Campbell University today to train physician assistant students to provide counseling and treatment for tobacco using patients.

On March 21st from 1-2 p.m., NC Prevention Partners will host Developing a Robust Tobacco Cessation Program for Patients with special guest presenters from two North Carolina Hospitals.

UNC Hospital is the sixth North Carolina Hospital to earn the Gold Heart for excellence in tobacco cessation programs for patients.

Going for Gold: How to Create a Comprehensive Quit Tobacco System for Employees webinar is now available in NC Prevention Partners' webinar archives.

NC Prevention Partners has announced the winners of the January Quitline Champion Challenge.

The Quit Tobacco for Employees initiative assists NC hospitals in developing comprehensive tobacco cessation programs that help employees in quitting tobacco use.

The two organizations with funding from The Duke Endowment join forces on the Working Well Project to help all SC hospital employees be tobacco free, eat well, and exercise for healthier and more productive lives.

This webinar will focus on the requirements needed for hospitals to earn recognition for having a comprehensive Quit Tobacco System for Employees. 

Members of NC Prevention Partners' Quit Tobacco team award Duke University Hospital with a gourmet fruit basket for having the highest percentage of accepted calls during the month of November.

Pregnant women will now receive 10 calls from QuitlineNC when they enroll in services.

The journal article found that if physicians talk to smokers about quitting, up to 35%  may make a quit attempt. 

23 1/2 hours talks about how 30 minutes of exercise will improve health and reduce risk of disease.

On January 31, from 2-3 p.m. EST, NC Prevention Partners will conduct a webinar on how to manage data and improve wellness programs.

New services became available January 1st through QuitlineNC including free nicotine replacement therapy and web coaching.

Revised Tobacco-free assessment now available!

This fall, Be Active North Carolina, Inc. issued a great challenge to school staff across the state to get active. More than 300 staff from 19 elementary, middle and high schools took on the challenge. Read on for tips on how to run a successful wellness challenge and find out who won! 

 by Anne Thornhill

Every day NC Prevention Partners is changing lives. WorkHealthy America is an integral part of helping us to meet our mission. We are grateful to you for your commitment to the wellness of your employees. Many of you are part of this community of learning through the generosity of sponsors.  If you would like to consider giving back and helping us to continue to work with others to push the highest bar of health and wellness. . . 

NC Prevention Partners has identified three NC hospitals that offer the best tobacco cessation benefits and incentives to help their employees quit.

The new service from the National Cancer Institute sends texts to encourage teens and young adults to stay quit.

FirstHealth Montgomery is the 3rd hospital in FirstHealth of the Carolina's health system to earn Gold Heart status.

While the UHS system already boasts eight Red Apples, they recently passed a policy that will support and sustain the transformation that the system hospitals have put in place over the past years. This extraordinary policy, in coordination with the environmental changes that UHS has been making over the past years, was recognized by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control as a best practice and highlighted in their “P2P” series.

The Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham is the most recent hospital to achieve the requirements for a comprehensive Quit-Tobacco system for patients.

Interested in receiving the $1000 Zone Health Award for the 2011-2012 school year?  Be sure to take the Zone Health assessment by January 20th and send us your Superintendent or Principal Commitment Form!  Read more about important dates for the 2011-2012 Zone Health Award.

Congratulations to FirstHealth Moore Regional and Richmond Memorial Hospitals who have earned Gold Heart status! The hospitals have met all the requirements of a comprehensive Quit Tobacco system for patients.

Dr. Melva Fager Okun presented at second TALK Conference this month in Wilmington, NC.

Pictured are Sally Herndon, Kurt Ribisl, and Melva Fager Okun.

WFBH broke the all time record for all NC hospitals by submitting 144 fax referrals in September.

Pictured is Lynn Black, Wellness Manager, Wake Forest Baptist Health

Healthcare providers, community leaders, and public health professionals were in attendance to learn more about recent research in tobacco control and policy and lung cancer screening.

On Tuesday, October 25th, NC Prevention Partners' Hospital Advisory Team met at the North Carolina Hospital Association in Cary. Administrators and staff from hospitals and other public health leaders gathered to hear about the recent successes of NC Prevention Partners.

Dr. Greg Miller, Medical Director of Adult Services at New York State Office of Mental Health was the guest presenter.

Heather Mountz, Quit Tobacco Coordinator, traveled to Carteret General Hospital recently to congratulate them on being North Carolina's first Red Heart hospital, meeting the highest recommendations for treating tobacco dependent inpatients.

Representing North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Patricia Folan and Christine Fardellone visited with NC Prevention Partners' Quit Tobacco team in Chapel Hill recently. North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System is one of 19 Centers for Tobacco Control in New York.