Press Releases

The Pender Emergency Medical Services team of McKenzie Shipp and Owen Feest claimed top honors at the 31st Annual Paramedic Competition held this week in Greensboro, earning the title for the first time in the county’s history.

As temperatures begin rising, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Aging and Adult Services is partnering with the N.C. Area Agencies on Aging and local service providers to distribute fans to eligible recipients through Operation Fan Heat Relief May 1–Oct. 31to help older adults at risk stay safe this summer.

About 1.2 million North Carolinians, or nearly 11% of the state’s population, don’t know where their next meal is coming from. To ensure North Carolina children, families and older adults have enough food and good nutrition, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the NCDHHS State Action Plan for Nutrition Security. This plan is part of the department’s larger strategic goal to support child and family well-being.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Thursday, April 27, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how North Carolinians can access and understand health-related information so they can improve their own health.

The 31st annual North Carolina Paramedic Competition will take place Sunday, April 30, at the Joseph S. Koury Convention Center, pitting the 2022 state champs from Mecklenburg EMS against five teams that clinched the right to challenge them during regional championships this summer.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Cafecito and Spanish-language tele-town hall on Wednesday, April 26, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how essential it is for North Carolinians to learn how to access and understand health-related information so they can improve their own health.

Everyone older than six months will now only receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against more variants of the virus. People age 65 and older and those with a compromised immune system can now receive an additional dose to protect themselves against severe illness from COVID-19.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced a change to the Project Access COVID Tests program (Project ACT) that will allow all North Carolina households to request free, at-home COVID-19 tests through June 30, 2023. Residents are encouraged to order additional free tests while supplies last.

A program that helped 1.6 million children get healthy food for the last three years is coming to an end, NCDHHS announced today.

Syphilis cases in North Carolina are on the rise, increasing 23% from 2021 to 2022, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported today as part of Sexually Transmitted Infection Awareness Week.