Media Contacts:
Carla Hollis
Chief Marketing & Planning Officer
(919) 954-3257
carla.hollis@duke.edu
Paige Humble
Director of Marketing & Communications
(919) 954-3293
p.humble@duke.edu Sept. 15, 2011 For Immediate Release
CHAPEL HILL – Duke Raleigh was recognized by NC Prevention Partners for providing the highest standard of excellence for tobacco cessation programs offered to their employees. Hospitals receiving this acknowledgment are considered Gold Star Standard Hospitals. NCPP is working with NC hospital corporate leaders and staff to enhance tobacco cessation efforts and resources available to all hospital employees and patients. In order to receive this recognition, Duke Raleigh refers their employees to effective quit programs (counseling through Duke’s Live for Life program), provides comprehensive benefits (nicotine replacement therapy and prescription medications at $0 co-pay) and offers attractive incentives to encourage employees to quit tobacco use. These are among several components recommended by NCPP for comprehensive quit-tobacco systems in hospitals. “Duke Raleigh continues to shine and perform as one of the top hospitals in North Carolina. They are doing a great job in supporting their employees in quitting the use of tobacco,” commented Melva Fager Okun, Senior Program Manager with NC Prevention Partners. “I applaud their great effort.”
Creating a healthy environment for employees is essential to the positive work culture at Duke Raleigh Hospital according to Hospital President Doug Vinsel. “Our goal is to be the place to give care and the best place to get care,” he shared. In order to provide the very best care employees need to have access to prevention and wellness programs that offer affordable and wide-ranging choices. “Through the excellent benefits offered through the Duke University Health System, we are able to provide outstanding smoking cessation options for our employees,” adds Vinsel.
NC Prevention Partners’ work in NC hospitals is funded by The Duke Endowment and is in partnership with the NC Hospital Association.
About NC Prevention Partners:
NC Prevention Partners is a leader in reducing preventable illness and early death in North Carolina caused by tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity and obesity. We helped North Carolina’s acute care hospitals go 100% tobacco free campus wide. We help employers create healthier workplaces, reduce costs and increase use of preventive health insurance benefits. Our mission as a non-profit is “Prevention first for a healthier North Carolina.” www.ncpreventionpartners.org
About Duke Raleigh Hospital
Duke Raleigh Hospital, a part of the world-renowned Duke University Health System, is a 186-bed acute-care facility on Wake Forest Road in North Raleigh with services including a cancer center, orthopaedic center, diabetes center, wound healing center, 24-hour emergency department, intensive and critical care, cardiovascular center, cardiac and pulmonary rehab, wellness services and community education. Duke Raleigh Hospital was the first hospital in the state recognized with the Hallmarks for Healthy Workplaces distinction for nursing excellence and has also received Magnet designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. For more information, visit www.dukeraleighhospital.org or call 919-954-3293.
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