State Treasurer Folwell To Address NC Pension Plan Performance

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-Press Release, NC Department of State Treasurer

The state pension plan is weathering the COVID-19-induced economic downturn better than many public pension plans while outperforming the stock market, and State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, will explain why during his “Ask Me Anything” conference call for the media on Wednesday, April 15.

The monthly calls are an opportunity for reporters to ask the Treasurer anything about N.C. Department of State Treasurer (DST) initiatives, including the Retirement Systems Division, the State Health Plan, the State and Local Government Finance Division and the Unclaimed Property Division.

As of Monday, the state pension plan was down about 4.2% for the calendar year, while the S&P 500 had tumbled about 14%. For the fiscal year, the plan is actually up .6% while the S&P is down almost 5%.

A stress test conducted by The Pew Charitable Trusts last year determined North Carolina’s pension plan is better positioned to remain solvent in tough economic times than most public pension plans. Research by Moody’s Investor Services determined, based on unfunded liabilities, that North Carolina’s pension plan was the best-funded among the 50 states, meaning it placed the lowest burden on taxpayers and members who pay into the system.

Meanwhile, emergency powers and other changes to the State Health Plan were implemented to help members respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The State and Local Government Commission is monitoring developments to determine whether cities and counties with bond debt and utility infrastructure needs might require assistance in dealing with declining taxes and fee revenue due to mandated business shutdowns.

Treasurer Folwell, who was hospitalized for five days due to complications from COVID-19, continued to engage in daily operations and decisions with DST staff throughout his illness. He has received the necessary medical clearances from his personal doctor and the Forsyth County Department of Health to return to work.

Among COVID-19 actions taken by DST were State Health Plan waivers for the costs of testing and treatment. Click here and here for more details of those steps.

Audio of previous “Ask Me Anything” calls is available here.

Granville Vance Public Health Logo

Majority of Granville’s 95 COVID-19 Cases in Prison Complex; 21 Cases in Vance

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-Press Release, Granville Vance Public Health

UPDATE: As of April 13, 2020, there are 95 known confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Granville County. Sixty-six of the 95 cases in Granville County are inmates at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Complex in Butner, NC, while the other 29 are community-based cases.

Vance County has 21 confirmed active cases of COVID-19.

Sadly, we have had our first reported deaths due to complications from COVID-19 in both counties. A 72-year old male from Vance County died April 12, 2020. He was hospitalized and had multiple pre-existing health conditions that worsened as a result of COVID-19.

In Granville County, the Bureau of Prisons reported four deaths to Granville Vance Public Health today. On April 11, 2020, an 81-year-old male died; on April 12, 2020, a 57-year-old male and a 78-year-old male died; on April 13, 2020, a 46-year-old male died, all from complications related to COVID-19. All individuals were also hospitalized and experienced underlying health conditions.

Granville Vance Public Health maintains frequent communication with individuals who test positive. A number of people report feeling better and a few have been released from isolation. The communicable disease team at your local health department continues to perform contact tracing for individual cases with known positive test results.

Other than the outbreak at the federal prison, there is no concentration of COVID-19 cases in any one specific area.

Granville Vance Public Health continues to strongly encourage everyone to continue to stay at home unless absolutely necessary to leave, in accordance with the Governor’s Executive Orders. When you do travel to stores for essential services, you will notice they are implementing additional social distancing policies for your safety. CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. However, a cloth mask is not a substitute for social distancing and proper hand hygiene.

It is important to continue to practice regular and thorough hand washing, avoid touching your face and stay more than 6 feet apart from others at all times. The efforts everyone has participated in to stay home and stay healthy have helped flatten the epidemic curve and will continue to make a difference in stopping the spread of this virus.

Call your doctor if you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 to see if you should be tested or need medical care. If you have mild symptoms, such as fever and cough, without shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, you may not need to be tested. Instead, you should isolate yourself at home and monitor how you are feeling. This will reduce the risk of making the people around you sick.

Testing is most important for people who are seriously ill, in the hospital, in high-risk settings like nursing homes or long-term care facilities, and for healthcare workers and other first responders who are caring for those with COVID-19.

Granville Vance Public Health will provide the most up-to-date and accurate information for COVID-19 in our district online at https://gvph.org/covid-19.

Vance County Schools Meal Distribution Continues

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The threat of strong storms resulted in the Vance County Schools meal distribution being cancelled on Monday, April 13.

However, according to Vance County Schools public information officer Aarika Sandlin, moving forward, meal distributions should be Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Eight familiar locations will be used, including:

  • Aycock Elementary
  • Clarke Elementary
  • EM Rollins Elementary
  • EO Young Elementary
  • New Hope Elementary
  • Zeb Vance Elementary
  • Vance County Middle
  • Vance County High

Pandemic Prompts Dept. of Public Safety to Transition Some Offenders to Supervision in the Community

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— Press Release

RALEIGH – In response to the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety today announced it is taking an extraordinary measure to help reduce the spread of the virus in prison facilities. The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice last week transitioned the first individuals who will continue to serve their sentence in the community.

“The department has been reviewing all options to protect public safety as well as our employees and those in the state’s custody,” Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks said. “Many of those options were implemented quickly, providing immediate impact, while others have required more preparation.”

In an effort to keep staff and those in our custody safe, DPS has taken numerous steps over the last several weeks to help reduce the spread of the virus into facilities. Some of the actions include:

  • Suspending visitation, volunteers, work release, and other programs to limit the exposure to the public and avoiding mass gathering situations;
  • Providing extra soap and disinfecting supplies and requiring additional cleaning regimens;
  • Pre-entrance medical screenings for staff;
  • Pre-intake medical screenings for new offenders and a 14-day quarantine period;
  • Suspending acceptance of transfers of offenders from county jails for 14 days; and
  • Dramatically reducing the movement of offenders within the prison system.

Despite these efforts, more than 35 offenders among six separate facilities have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, necessitating use of stronger measures. Twenty staff at 10 facilities have also self-reported positive test results for COVID-19.

By law, the Public Safety secretary has the authority to allow certain individuals to serve their sentence outside of a DPS prison facility, but under the supervision of community corrections officers and/or special operations officers.

Adult Correction is reviewing additional offenders for possible transition to the community to complete their sentence under supervision. All offenders under consideration must meet strict criteria and all legal requirements, such as victim notification in certain cases, before a transfer to the community is approved. The approximately 500 offenders being considered cannot have been convicted of a violent crime against a person and must fall within one of the following categories:

  • Pregnant offenders
  • Offenders age 65 and older with underlying health conditions
  • Female offenders age 50 and older with health conditions and a release date in 2020
  • Offenders age 65 and older with a release date in 2020
  • Offenders already on home leave with a release date in 2020
  • Offenders on work release with a release date in 2020

On Thursday, April 9, six offenders were transferred into the community. All of those six are females and are either pregnant or are 65 or older, and thus in a high-risk category as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a separate effort to reduce the number of incarcerated persons in its facilities, the department has been awarding time credits, where appropriate and in accordance with its statutory authority. This allows some offenders to reduce their maximum sentence and be released to community upon completion of the minimum sentence. In March alone, more than 300 offenders originally scheduled for release in April, May or June, were transitioned to post-release supervision by completing their minimum sentence. Through this process, many individuals who were scheduled for release this spring or early summer have already been discharged or are on an expedited schedule for transition in the next few weeks.

A total of 2,200 offenders were released in March. In fact, since January of this year, over 6,900 individuals have been released from a DPS facility. This is an increase of 10% over the same period in 2019. In addition to the actions of DPS, the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission, is also reviewing offenders under its authority for possible release. For example, over the past week, the commission has released more than a dozen pregnant females to community supervision.

“We do not take these new measures lightly. Our staff are working in accordance with CDC guidelines, while being mindful of adult risk management, as well as reentry best practices in order to identify and transition adult offenders into our communities in a safe and efficient manner,” said Tim Moose, Chief Deputy Secretary of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice.

“This is an ongoing process. We will continue to work diligently to monitor best practices and offender risk, while coordinating any future releases to community supervision, as well as adjusting to this ever-evolving situation to protect our staff, the incarcerated community and the community at large,” Moose added.

For more information, see the comprehensive list of Prisons Actions.

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H-V Emergency Operations

Henderson-Vance Had One Tornado Warning Earlier Monday

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About 7:48 Monday morning, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Henderson and for portions of north and east Vance County.

Shortly after 8 a.m., the warning for portions of Vance County was cancelled.  However, the simultaneously warned areas in north and west Warren County remained under the warning until it expired at 8:15 a.m.

In an email to Brian Short, Director of Henderson-Vance Emergency Operations, WIZS News asked about ground truth, injuries and damages.

Short wrote back, “As far as I know it was only radar indicated. We did not receive any calls of sightings. To my knowledge we had no damage. We did have a single tree down but it did not impact anything.”

The NWS forecast indicates that the next chance of rain is Tuesday night and Wednesday.  Nothing severe is forecast at this time.

Vance County NC

No Curfew Currently Planned for Vance County, City of Henderson

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According to Vance County and City of Henderson officials, there is no immediate plan to enact a curfew for the duration of Governor Cooper’s Stay at Home Order, which is currently in effect through April 29, 2020.

Neighboring counties, including Warren and Franklin, have enacted curfews from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. through the remainder of the order’s effective dates. Travel is allowed for tasks deemed as essential, including seeking medical assistance, grocery shopping and traveling to and from essential jobs.

“The answer today is no [curfew], but this virus has left us all guessing as to what tomorrow may have in store for us,” Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow told WIZS News.

“With the early establishment of a local State of Emergency, Mayor Ellington positioned us, as a unified governmental entity, to be able to make those decisions as the needs of our community change. We are in continuous conversation about the overall well-being of our citizens, and I believe the majority of our community has responded tremendously to the National and State Orders. If nothing else, you can always tag or describe our city as resilient.”

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame and Henderson Vance Emergency Management Director Brian Short confirmed with WIZS that they have not heard plans for a curfew at this time.

“Right now, there is not a curfew as long as the people are complying with the guidelines and are mindful of the State of Emergency,” Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington stated. “I would consult with our police chief, city manager, sheriff, as well as the district attorney before we would move on a curfew. We all want to be unified and make the right decision on behalf of our citizens and business community.”

H-V Chamber Logo

Reminder: H-V Chamber’s 2019 Small Business of the Year Nominations Due April 17

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-Information courtesy the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce

The Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce is looking for nominees for the 2019 Small Business of the Year. This is your opportunity to recognize an outstanding business in the small business community.

You are encouraged to nominate chamber member businesses that are deserving of this recognition. Local small businesses are certainly deserving of recognition, as we have especially seen during these last few weeks.

 2019 Small Business of the Year Criteria:

  • Employs a maximum of 50 people
  • Member of the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce and must be located in Vance County
  • Must be a viable, on-going business for three or more years, experiencing growth or stability over its business life
  • Provides critical service or products, fills a void in the business community, or has a unique approach to the delivery of goods and services
  • May have overcome diverse or extraordinary circumstances to remain in business
  • Business is supportive of community growth and sustainability
  • Is not a governmental agency or municipality

Anyone can nominate a business they believe deserves recognition and meets the criteria. Companies may also nominate themselves.

Nominations are due to the H-V Chamber no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April 17, 2020. All applications are confidential.

For a nomination form or if you have questions, please email michele@hendersonvance.org or call the H-V Chamber at (252) 438-8414.

The recipient of the award, sponsored by Duke Energy, will be announced in May.

Previous award winners include:

2018 Holland Industrial
2017 J.M. White Funeral Home
2016 Medical Arts Pharmacy
2015 Vanco Outdoor Equipment
2014 Quick Print
2013 Satterwhite Point Marina
2012 Data Forge
2011 Johnson’s Block and Concrete
2010 City Tire, Inc
2009 Henderson Wellness Center
2008 Franklin Brothers Nursery and Greenhouses
2007 Ballet Arts
2006 Interiors Downtown
2005 Fogg’s Exxon
2004 Vance Furniture
2003 Grays Gourmet
2002 The Peanut Roaster
2001 Raemac Transportation
NC Governor Logo

Governor’s Order Provides Flexibility to Expand Hospital Beds, Equipment & Personnel

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-Press Release, Governor Roy Cooper

Governor Roy Cooper took action to provide more access to health care beds and get more medical workers to respond to the rising demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He signed Executive Order No. 130, which expands the pool of health care workers and orders essential childcare services for workers responding to the crisis.

“In a time of emergency we need to make it easier for hospitals to free up bed space and hire more medical staff and this order does that,” Governor Cooper said.

The Order temporarily puts measures in place for licensing, Certificates of Need, and other regulations. The public health crisis needs to scale up services and staff and the Order gives the NC DHHS Secretary the authority to do that during the emergency. Once the crisis has passed, the rules will be put back into place.

“We have never faced emergency demand for health care like we do today, and we must act now,” added Governor Cooper. “If we do this work well, along with social distancing, our hospitals can handle the hardships of this pandemic.”

EXPANDING SERVICES, BEDS STATEWIDE

The Order offers flexibility using and moving resources, such as beds, dialysis stations, CT and MRI scanners. It means hospitals can more quickly increase the number of beds to take critically ill patients and allow an ambulatory surgical facility to operate as a temporary hospital.

Though the Order loosens regulations, expanding beds and services will still require the NCDHHS, Division of Health Service Regulation to approve written requests that explain how an increase in capacity, relocation or addition of resources, equipment acquisition, or change in facility operation addresses public health needs and related safety measures.

EMERGENCY CHILD CARE SERVICES

The Order allows childcare facilities to remain open or to reopen to care for children of essential business workers, children who are receiving child welfare services, or children who are homeless or living in unstable or unsafe living arrangements.

The Order requires the facilities to apply for approval and to follow the NCDHHS Emergency Facility Guidelines but also provides flexibility in activities and continuing education requirements for caregivers.

EXPANDING POOL OF HEALTH CARE WORKERS AND ACCESS TO TELEHEALTH

The Order will allow out-of-state licensed workers to practice in North Carolina during the emergency and may allow retired health care professionals, students training for health care jobs and unlicensed, skilled volunteers to provide care.

Expanded telehealth services and flexibility for in-home care are also included in the Order.

The Council of State concurred with the Order today. Read the full Order.

Read a summary of the Order. 

McGregor Hall Partners With Lowe’s, First Baptist on Hospital Gown Project

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-Information courtesy McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center

McGregor Hall is honored to announce its partnership as the first and primary assembly location for the COVID-19 Hospital Gown Project.

The project – with the support of McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center, First Baptist Church of Henderson & Lowe’s Home Improvement (Henderson) – aims to assemble 5,000 homemade isolation hospital gowns to restore declining supplies of personal protective equipment at Maria Parham Health.

The assembly process began Monday at McGregor Hall and will continue until the goal is met. According to project organizer and surgeon at Maria Parham Health, Bob Noel, there are 50 people currently signed up to volunteer for the project. Honoring safety guidelines, volunteers rotate in groups of ten at McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center and undergo strict screening procedures prior to beginning their shift. Noel hopes the project will produce 200-500 gowns per week.

Lowe’s has generously donated plastic materials that will help in the creation of nearly 500 isolation gowns. First Baptist Church of Henderson’s generous contribution will produce 2,500.

All gowns created through this project will stay local to aid Maria Parham Health and local nursing care facilities. 

If you would like to know more about the COVID-19 Hospital Gown Project, please contact Amy Russell at amyrussell@fbchenderson.net.

 

Maria Parham Health Physician Practices Launch Telemedicine Services

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-Press Release, Maria Parham Health

Virtual visits connect patients and providers beyond the clinic setting. Maria Parham Health Physician Practices announced today that it has added telemedicine to its offerings. The announcement comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s unprecedented expansion of telehealth services.

“We are pleased to offer convenient telemedicine solutions to help connect patients and providers and ensure the continued delivery of high-quality care,” shared Iris Berry, Director of Physician Practices at Maria Parham Health. “As the situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve, telehealth capabilities enable our clinical team to practice social distancing to further reduce the spread of illness while still meeting our patients’ health needs. We look forward to the many ways this new offering will further advance our mission of Making Communities Healthier.”

For patients who meet certain clinical criteria, Maria Parham Health Physician Practices are offering two types of telehealth visits: telephonic and televideo. A telephonic visit is simply a patient phone call with a provider, and a televideo visit is a virtual, face-to-face visit with a provider using a video conferencing service. Virtual visits may not be available in all cases and will be evaluated based on a patient’s specific clinical needs.

Patients can request a telehealth visit by calling their provider’s office, just as they would for an in-person visit. The provider will determine if a telehealth visit is appropriate based on the patient’s health condition. If the virtual visit is deemed clinically appropriate, the patient will be given an appointment time and instructions for the best way to connect given the available platforms. Then, instead of coming to the office, he or she would call back at the scheduled time and be “checked in” by a nurse or office manager, and then transferred to the provider for the call or two-way video.

A few restrictions on telephonic visits may apply, including that they cannot be utilized to treat patients for a condition that the patient has been seen for in the previous seven days, and they cannot be used to treat a condition that the patient is already coming in for within the next 24 hours.

Patients who are concerned they may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 are encouraged to consider telemedicine appointments to help further reduce the spread of respiratory illness. Leveraging telemedicine also conserves personal protective equipment (PPE) and other clinical resources that are needed when treating a patient with suspected COVID-19 in the clinic or hospital setting.