Stevens receives Levine Award for public health service to North Carolina

Rachel H. Stevens, EdD, RN, was presented with the Ronald H. Levine Legacy Award on Jan. 28 at the annual N.C. State Health Director’s Conference in Raleigh.

 

Named for former North Carolina State Health Director Dr. Ron Levine, the annual award honors individuals whose work and commitment on behalf of the public’s health has resulted in significant, sustainable and positive improvements to health and quality of life in North Carolina.

 

Stevens, former clinical professor and senior adviser to the director of UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s North Carolina Institute for Public Health, retired from the School in 2008, after 20 years’ service.

 

“No one is more deserving of this highly prestigious award than Rachel Stevens, whose service to public health has had a major impact on the health of our state and the health of the nation,” said Ed Baker, MD, MPH, director of the N.C. Institute for Public Health.

At the UNC public health school, Stevens had served as chair of the Public Health Nursing Program, chair of the Interdisciplinary Curriculum in Practice and Leadership, and director of the Center for Public Health Practice. Most recently, she was deputy director of the Institute, where she managed public health continuing and outreach education, facilitated the School’s technical assistance and consultation to public health practitioners, and directed public health research projects.

 

Stevens earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University. She has more than thirty years’ experience and leadership in public health practice at the state and local levels.Her primary areas of interest and research include accreditation, public health and public health nursing practice and leadership, public health workforce development and training, and health care access and management. She recently served on the Exploring Accreditation Committee that developed the framework for a national public health accreditation system and chaired the group’s sub-committee on governance.

She consults extensively throughout the U.S. and has written numerous publications about public health practice. In 2009, she was appointed to the Public Health Foundation (http://www.phf.org/Pages/default.aspx) board of directors, serving on their governance committee, and was reappointed to her local board of health in Chatham County, N.C.

Stevens has received The University of North Carolina Chancellor’s Award for Public Service and the prestigious North Carolina Public Health Association Rankin Award for outstanding contributions to public health in North Carolina. In 2010, she received the National Association for Local Boards of Health’s President’s Award.

The 2011 N.C. State Health Director’s Conference, titled “Healthy N.C. 2020: A Vision for a Healthier State,” provided a unique opportunity for local and state public health leaders to gather around public health issues of strategic interest. As in previous years, the 2011 conference was designed to support capacity development and skill-building as well as stimulate thought and discussion. Sponsors of the event included the North Carolina Division of Public Health, North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors, and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Office of Continuing Education at the N.C. Institute for Public Health.

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.