06school shooting 2School shootings studied

The Governor’s Crime Commission has established a special committee to strengthen school safety. “School shootings have tragically become too common an occurrence in our country,” said North Carolina Public Safety Secretary Eric Hooks. “We must use every resource available to us to examine and address this dangerous threat posed to our children and educational professionals.”

Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin has been named to the 16-member organization. Hooks said the group will identify resources and conduct a series of forums to gather and share information, listen to concerns and identify possible strategies to prevent school gun violence.

Real estate property tax appeals deadline June 29

Taxpayers who own or control taxable real property seeking request for appeals for the 2018 tax year may submit requests to the Cumberland County Tax Administration. Those seeking a request for a hearing must make the request in writing or by personal appearance before the Board of Equalization and Review adjourns June 29. The Board of Equalization and Review will hold hearings at 3:30 p.m. in Room 564, on the fifth floor of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse, located at 117 Dick St., May 7, May 9, May 23, June 13, June 20, June 27 and June 29.

Taxpayers may submit their request for appeals in person Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the office of Tax Administration, Room 530, in the Courthouse at 117 Dick St. The appeal forms are available online at http://co.cumberland.nc.us/tax.aspx. The mailing address is Cumberland County Tax Administrator, P.O. Box 449, Fayetteville, NC, 28302-0449.

Crime Stoppers honored

Fayetteville/Cumberland County Crime Stoppers is the recipient of the 2017 Productivity Award for communities with populations of 300,000–400,000. The award was presented to the organization by the Southeastern Crime Stoppers Association during their annual conference in Atlanta. The productivity award is presented to an organization based on the total number of tips received, arrests made, charges laid and cash rewards paid out. The southeastern region consists of Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington D.C.

Since its inception in 1984, Fayetteville/Cumberland County Crime Stoppers has provided information resulting in the arrest of more than 3,108 felons, recovered more than $6.7 million in stolen property and narcotics, and paid out more than $312,000 in cash rewards.

Cape Fear Valley Health Chooses Epic for comprehensive health record system

Epic, the most widely-used comprehensive health record software in the U.S., is coming to Cape Fear Valley Health. Currently, Cape Fear Valley Health uses two Cerner software systems for record keeping. Epic has been selected to unite its hospitals and clinics under a single information sharing platform. Many of the nation’s leading health systems already use Epic to exchange data,share best practices and promote innovation.

“The benefits of Epic will be felt in our clinics and hospitals throughout southeastern North Carolina as we move to this fully-integrated system,” said Michael Nagowski, Cape Fear Valley CEO. “This new system will allow patients and providers to easily access data when and where they need it.”

“Epic will allow Cape Fear Valley Health caregivers to securely share critical patient data across our facilities, our region and throughout the United States, with both civilian and military health care providers,” said Samuel Fleishman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer. “This will allow our physicians, nurses, technicians and staff to work more efficiently and collaboratively to meet the needs of our patients and their families.”

Patients will benefit by receiving a complete digital record spanning their entire continuum of care.The patient access and engagement through Epic’s MyChart patient portal will also improve. Services such as scheduling, clinical applications, billing and population health initiatives will be streamlined once the switch to Epic is made.

The switch to Epic is expected to be complete by summer 2019.

Cape Fear Valley Health has hospitals and clinics serving patients across a seven-county region of southeastern North Carolina, includingFayetteville, Hope Mills, Raeford, Lumberton, Elizabethtown, Clinton, Lillington, Dunn and Laurinburg.

County receives Excellence in Communications recognition

The North Carolina City and County Communicators’ Excellence in Communications Awards were presented April 19 at the annual Spring Conference in New Bern. Out of 178 entries, 23 North Carolina government offices earned recognition.The Cumberland County Public Information Office earned much recognition by winning four awards.

“We are proud of our public information team for what they have accomplished and how hard they work to connect with our citizens and share our story,” said County Manager Amy Cannon.

Cumberland County placed second for: TV or Video-Instructional Video for “Love Me? Vaccinate Me;” Printed Publications-Poster, Flyer, Club Card for “Love Me? Vaccinate Me;” Communication Technology-Digital Signage Programming; and Multi-Platform Campaign for Cumberland ALERTS.

The purpose of North Carolina City & County Communicators is to encourage professional development and networking among local governmental communications professionals. The organization was formed in March 2007 and is made up of government professional communicators from around the state.

For more information about NC3C, visit the website: http://www.nc3c.com.