Category Archives: HEALTH
Long-time staffer resigns post at Health Department
BAYBORO – Bryan Harris, a veteran employee of the Pamlico Health Department, resigned last month from his position as Environmental Health Specialist – a job that pays more than $60,000 per year plus fringe benefits. County officials have been tight-lipped about Harris’ reasons for quitting – they cite the North Carolina Personnel Act, which tightly guards an employee’s performance evaluations and all but the most basic of details.
Harris, hired in April of 2003, has been in charge of septic tank approvals and inspections – a high profile responsibility for Pamlico County,…
RECYCLES GONE WILD !!
County’s unattended recycling bins used as dumping grounds!
PAMLICO COUNTY – The problem is rampant. Non-recyclable stuff – including rotting garbage and even human waste — contaminate entire bins of otherwise legitimate materials. The result? Forget those warm, fuzzy images of recycles being miraculously transformed into beneficial end products. No way! Instead, loads and loads of contaminated bins are dumped at a transfer station in Grantsboro, ultimately bound for the sprawling regional landfill in western Craven County. Citizen complaints surfaced in June duri…
Rabies reported
Area officials reported Tuesday a confirmed case of rabies. The Pamlico County Health Department and Pamlico County Animal Control said a fox captured in the area has tested positive for rabies. Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes. Keep animals from roaming, and ensure that pets are current on vaccinations. If you have any questions, please call Animal…
Repeal & Replace on life support — Seven GOP senators defect
WASHINGTON, D.C. Be thankful for small things, like a 51-50 vote to bring ObamaCare to the Senate floor for debate, but don’t get too excited. Seven Republican senators really bailed Tuesday night in a follow up vote.
Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to open debate on repealing Obamacare, dramatically reviving an effort that many GOP lawmakers left for dead just a few days ago.
The vote is a huge political win and turnaround for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republicans who’ve promised for seven years to repeal Obamacare if voters gave them control of Congress and…
Health Department announces big change!
Pediatric Services to begin in July
By Scott Lenhart, Director
Pamlico County Health Department
BAYBORO — It has been six months since I have taken the helm at Pamlico County Health Department, and I would like to update the community on the many advances we have accomplished since my arrival last November.
First of all, I would like to thank my staff, other Pamlico agencies, and the citizens who came forward to welcome my family and me into the community.
Partnerships are very important for the health and wellbeing of community, so that has been a primary focus since my arrival. As we inte…
Health Department on the ropes
New director issues first report card: ‘D minus’ at best, says Lenhart
At left, Scott Lenhart, new director of the Pamlico County Health Department; and, Cliff Braly, chairman of the volunteer board that supervises the agency
PAMLICO COUNTY – Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m. three separate governmental boards will convene – at the same time in the same room – to consider the pros and cons of merging one county agency into another.
The hot topic is the fate of the Pamlico County Health Department – an entity that has seen its share of woes over the past decade, including a revolving door of direct…
CarolinaEast earns five stars!
Upper echelon of nation’s hospitals
NEW BERN — In the second round of ratings by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CarolinaEast Medical Center is the only hospital in North Carolina to retain five stars. One of only four in the state following the initial ratings, CarolinaEast now emerges into an elite group – the 1.81 percent of the nation’s hospitals to receive a coveted five stars!
According to the federal government website, Medicare.gov:
“The overall rating summarizes up to 57 quality measures on Hospital Compare reflecting common conditions that hosp…
Credit Belhaven mayor, NAACP for ‘tenacity and perseverance’ in fight against Vidant
By Betty Murphy
BELHAVEN – Saturday, April 30, may well have been a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment when Belhaven town officials and the NAACP hosted a press conference to announce jointly filed federal complaints — an integral part of the evolving Save Our Hospital movement!
It has been two years since Greenville-based medical behemoth Vidant Health closed Belhaven’s beloved Pungo District Hospital. In most hearts and minds of this rural community (and to many knowledgeable outsiders), Vidant Health never intended to keep Pungo Hospital operating!
It all came to a head on April 30…
Health Director resigns
Dennis Harrington, director of the Pamlico County Health Department, resigned last night during a meeting of the Board of Health. Clockwise around the table, beginning, far left: Harrington; board chairman Cliff Braley; and board members Richard Shaw, Steve Pertz, Teresa Scott, Angelo Midgette, Jason Rose, and Ken Heath.
BAYBORO – Citing “medical conditions,” Dennis Harrington, director of the Pamlico County Health Department, submitted a letter of resignation Monday night to an appointed board of local citizens, who are charged with supervising the department.
Harringto…
Heads almost roll in Health Department
Director’s hasty firing threats, later rescinded to ‘Administrative Leave’
BAYBORO – A routine ‘webinar’ (cyberspeak for video instruction that arrives over an Internet connection) turned testy last Thursday, April 14, when Dennis Harrington, director of the Pamlico County Health Department, threatened to fire two veteran employees, Tammy Rodriguez and Vanessa Jackson.
Rodriguez, who has both a Masters degree in Public Health and an MBA, is responsible for inspecting all food service operations. She signs the “Sanitation Grade” certificate, which must be prom…
