Press Releases

Emergency department visits for opioid overdose in North Carolina have risen sharply, with preliminary data for 2017 indicating more than 5,700 visits, a nearly 40 percent increase in opioid overdose ED visits compared to 2016. The 2017 increase represents a doubling of the number recorded in 2009.

Effective Monday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will temporarily assume leadership of child welfare services at the Cherokee County Department of Social Services, as authorized under state law.

North Carolina health officials are alerting the public to a recent increase in emergency department visits by people who reported using cannabidiol (CBD) oil or a similar product in electronic cigarettes and/or vaporizing pens.

Kroger Pharmacies and Harris Teeter Pharmacies across North Carolina have joined the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in the fight against prescription drug misuse by integrating pharmacy data sharing information into their workflow.

The Office of State Budget and Management, in consultation with the North Carolina Department of Health Human Services' Division of Social Services, has awarded a $2.5 million contract to SLI Global Solutions LLC subsidiary, the Center for the Support of Families, to provide technical assistance that will strengthen the state's social services and child welfare programs.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a request for proposal for independent enrollment broker services that will help beneficiaries enroll in the North Carolina Medicaid and NC Health Choice managed care programs.

More than $9 million remains available to help eligible households pay their heating bills through the state-administered Low-Income Energy Assistance Program. The federally funded program helps keep families safe and healthy by providing a one-time payment directly to the utility company.

With flu activity in North Carolina remaining widespread, state health officials are continuing to encourage North Carolinians to get vaccinated. Interim estimates of vaccine effectiveness released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the vaccine is approximately 36 percent effective this season and 59 percent effective for children 6 months to 8 years old.

Foster youth of legal driving age and their caregivers can now be reimbursed for costs related to obtaining a driver's license through a new pilot program.

Governor Roy Cooper today urged all North Carolinians to take extra precautions to avoid catching or spreading the flu virus during peak flu season. Influenza has claimed the lives of at least 140 North Carolinians since flu season began in October.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services submitted its Behavioral Health Strategic Plan to the NC General Assembly, providing an informed vision for the future of North Carolina’s behavioral health system.

Today at the Cardinal Innovations Board meeting in Winston-Salem, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services transitioned leadership and governance of the organization to the new board and to the Cardinal Innovations executive leadership team.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services today announced that the newly appointed board for Cardinal Innovations will meet to hold its first official board meeting this weekend. The new board will convene on Friday evening, Jan. 26, for another training session and will come into session for its first official board meeting on Saturday, Jan. 27. At this board meeting, DHHS intends to transition leadership and governance of the organization to the new board and the Cardinal Innovations executive leadership team.

Governor Roy Cooper today announced the next wave of funding to combat the opioid crisis from the 21st Century Cures Act/State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Grant that North Carolina received in May 2017. Since May, 3,200 individuals have benefited from these programs, and the funds announced today are expected to treat an additional 3,300 North Carolinians with an opioid use disorder.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is reporting the state's first child death from flu for the 2017-18 flu season. A child in the central part of the state died last week from complications associated with influenza infection. To protect the family's privacy, the child's hometown, county and gender are not being released.

Governor Roy Cooper issued a proclamation recognizing Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day in North Carolina and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Public Health joins in this observance. World AIDS Day renews opportunities for health service agencies to collaborate with partners, raise awareness about HIV and move closer to an AIDS-free generation.

Since arriving on site on Nov. 27, DHHS staff discovered documents that raise serious concerns about proposed financial activities by former board leadership and former CEO. Based on this information, DHHS filed and was granted a temporary restraining order in Mecklenburg County to ensure that former board members and the former CEO have no access to Cardinal's funds. DHHS has taken a variety of administrative actions related to the financial management of the organization; in addition to those activities we are pursuing this litigation out of an abundance of caution in the protection of taxpayer dollars.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is accepting applications for the state's Low-Income Energy Assistance Program beginning Friday.

Effective immediately, the N.C Department of Health and Human Services has temporarily assumed leadership of Cardinal Innovations, an LME-MCO authorized under state law to provide essential behavioral services using public funds.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is notifying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and affected individuals of a recent incident in which a spreadsheet containing personal information was sent in error to a vendor in an unencrypted email.