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The Association of NC Boards of Health (ANCBH) has announced that Surry County Health and Nutrition Center and Stanly County Consolidated Health and Human Services Board are the recipients of this year’s statewide awards for public health agencies.

Stanly County Consolidated Health and Human Services Board is the winner of the Outstanding Board of Health Award issued by ANCBH each year.

Surry County Health and Nutrition Center will receive the Carl Durham award for significant contributions to public health. Surry will also be awarded the Robert “Ed” Strother partnership award for fostering a public-private partnership which has improved public health for the community.

The awards will be presented during the Annual Meeting of ANCBH on Wednesday at the Orange County West Campus Office Building at 131 W. Margaret Lane in Hillsborough. The time of the awards ceremony will be 1 p.m.

Dr. Jean Douglas, chair of the Board of ANCBH, said: “We solicited nominations for these three awards from across our state, and without hesitation, both Stanly and Surry counties rose to the top as institutions where timely and meaningful work in public health is being done. Both counties have focused recently on substance abuse and opioid use prevention strategies, and their individual results are outstanding.”

The Outstanding Board of Health Award is given in recognition of Stanly County’s Consolidated Health and Human Services Board and its successful efforts to support opioid overdose and death prevention programs in Stanly County.
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The Carl Durham Award is in remembrance of a North Carolina pharmacist, Carl Durham, who was instrumental in pharmaceutical reform nationwide. The Surry County Board of Health, under the leadership of chairman Eddie Jordan, has successfully engineered a Medication – Assisted Treatment Program (MAT) that is shared with the local EMS and has saved many lives in Surry County.

The Robert “Ed” Strother Partnership Award is awarded in memory of Robert “Ed” Strother of New Hanover County, one of the first board members of ANCBH, who legitimized the importance of partnering with local community agencies.

The Surry County Board of Health and Mark Willis, director of the Surry County Office of Substance Abuse and Recovery, has established a public-private partnership which has addressed the social determinants of health alongside clinical treatment through peer-focused interventions.