Comprehensive Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic arrived on the doorstep of all counties with little warning, and with very little foresight as to what it would become and how disruptive it would be to our local government operations, plans, and capacities. New Hanover County, like all local governments, was faced with the daunting challenge of navigating many competing priorities and challenges. Our approach and successes have been, and continue to be, the result of a unique blend of forward leaning and systems thinking leadership, 100% committed staff, and excellence in all-hazards preparedness.Our approach from the outset was to assure transparency, take decisive action to protect our community, partner with our municipalities and key stakeholders, and persevere to see the work through and return our community to normalcy. We have achieved great success on these foundations over the past year. In February, 2020 we assembled a multi-disciplinary team across our county government that quickly grew to include every facet of our organization: Public Health, Emergency Management, Social Services, Communications, IT, Facilities, Inter-governmental Affairs, Diversity and Equity, Legal, Finance, Aging, and many others. We moved forward with aggressive communication and education to our stakeholder partners such as our local healthcare community, municipalities, business organizations, and major interests such as our school system, university and community college, industries, our Port, Airport and Utility Authorities. We also began as soon as able a large-scale COVID-19 testing site centered in our downtown area and easily accessible to everyone, including many of our low-income and marginalized residents. Our concerted equity focus throughout, our testing operations, call center, digital dashboards, communication and educational campaigns, provider partnerships, and our vaccination campaign have led at every step of the way!