Hurricane Helene barreled into Western North Carolina on the morning of Friday, September 27th, leaving unprecedented levels of devastation in its wake. The storm has since been confirmed as the most damaging and deadly hurricane in North Carolina history. Host, Jean Fisher Brinkley talks with State Health Director Dr. Betsey Tilson about all of the things NC DHHS has been doing to safeguard the health and safety of people impacted by the storm.
NC DHHS Hurricane Helene Recovery Resources page
NC DHHS Provider Resources page
Federal Hurricane Helene resources
List of verified organizations providing Hurricane Helene relief
Download Transcript (205KB pdf file)
Jean Fisher Brinkley is NCMB’s Communications Director, a role that involves developing and overseeing production of communications materials and strategies needed to enhance public and professional awareness and understanding of the Board and its mission. She joined NCMB in 2008, after an 11-year career in newspaper journalism, most of it dedicated to reporting on medicine, health policy and the business aspects of health care.
Brinkley earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Mills College in Oakland, CA, and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Raleigh with her husband and two daughters.
You can reach Jean at podcast@ncmedboard.org
Elizabeth Tilson serves North Carolina as the State Health Director and the Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she promotes public health and prevention activities, as well as provides guidance and oversight on a variety of cross-Departmental issues including the COVID-19 Pandemic Response, the Opioid Epidemic, Early Childhood, Medicaid Transformation, and Healthy Opportunities.
Prior roles include serving as the Medical Director of Community Care of Wake and Johnston Counties, Chief Network Medical Director for Community Care of North Carolina, and Assistant Consulting Professor and Cancer Control Specialist with Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Tilson practiced primary care pediatrics for 26 years and has been active in leadership roles in many local, state, and national pediatric, public health and preventive medicine organizations.
Dr. Tilson is a graduate of Dartmouth College (BA), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (MD), and the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (MPH). She completed Residencies and is board certified in both Pediatrics and General Preventive Medicine/Public Health.
