Duke Raleigh Hospital

By Rick Gannotta, NP, DHA, FACHE, Duke Raleigh Hospital President

At Duke Raleigh Hospital, we are proud to be the first organization in North Carolina recognized with the Excellence Award by North Carolina Prevention Partners (NCPP).  Through their Healthy NC Hospitals initiative, NCPP is helping hospitals across the state become even healthier places for employees, patients and visitors.  Organizations that are confirmed with straight A’s in the employee wellness areas of nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco-free environments and who also score an “A” in meeting the NCPP Culture of Wellness criteria are eligible for the Excellence Award.

NCPP Congratulates Duke Raleigh with Excellence Award

An important part of fulfilling our organization’s value of “caring for our patients, their loved ones and each other” is to ensure we have a healthy team.   A healthy team is imperative in our ability to provide the best care to our patients and our community.

Several leaders in our organization have worked closely with our hospital’s VIP Wellness Committee, comprised of staff from a number of different areas, to develop important programs and resources to benefit employee health.  Initiatives have included:

• Duke Medicine’s Live for Life program conveniently offering on-campus employee resources such as health screenings, a farmers’ market, health challenges and a run/walk club;
• healthier dining options available at a reduced cost and nutrition content and educational information posted in the Duke Raleigh café;
• smoking cessation medications available at a discounted rate and free counseling for tobacco users;
• health and wellness overview during new employee orientation and
• on-campus gardens for relaxation or walking outdoors.

We have also recently implemented a hospital wellness policy to unite and guide our programs and ensure that employee wellness remains a mainstay in our culture here at Duke Raleigh.

I am extremely proud of these efforts and look forward to continue working with our team to remain leaders in employee wellness.

Learn more about our triple gold awards received in June and our Culture of Wellness designation.   To learn more about NCPP, visit their web site at www.ncpreventionpartners.org.