Here are the finalists in the 2016 Health Care Heroes Community Outreach category.

Honors an individual or team who communicated to the community about a health issue, including treatments and best practices, health threats and other education initiatives.

 

Hunter Crumpton

TITLE: Physician access liaison

ORGANIZATION: New Hanover Regional Medical Center

WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID: “The grace and humility Hunter possesses to go above and beyond her role to do what is best for the practice and their patients is unparalleled.
Hunter consistently eases frustrations and misconceptions while offering encouragement and motivation that change is not always negative.

Hunter is extremely passionate about the future of health care and has a proactive approach to quality and outcomes. Hunter believes collaboration and innovation are vital components of modern health care. She serves N.C. Health Informatics and Communication Association (NCHICA) on both the Informatics and Analytics Council and Education Committee.

Hunter earned her master’s in Public Administration with a focus on nonprofit leadership in 2013.

She had the opportunity to serve New Hanover Health Department and the New Hanover Department of Social Service in valuable research roles and completed a fellowship with Quality Enhancements for Nonprofit Organizations.

Where opportunity did not exist or seemed impossible she innovated and created change.”

-Stephen MacIntyre
 

Dan Johnson

TITLE: Associate professor in recreation therapy

ORGANIZATION: UNCW

WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID: “Dan’s passion for his chosen field of recreation therapy extends far beyond the UNCW campus. He has been instrumental in bringing accessible recreation and sports to the greater Wilmington community.

In 2008 he founded the nonprofit organization Accessible Coastal Carolina Events and Sports Services (ACCESS) of Wilmington, which spearheaded construction of the Miracle Field and playground at Olsen Park, in partnership with the national Miracle League.

It was Dan who tirelessly solicited business and community sponsors to support the Miracle Field and worked to raise the money necessary to pay for construction ... Miracle Field programs include baseball for children and adults with physical, developmental and cognitive challenges and the G.A.M.E.S. exercise program (Group Activity Through Movement, Exercise and Sports) for adults with disabilities.

The 33,000-square-foot Miracle Field also serves as a lab and an educational tool. UNCW students volunteer with the program, gaining valuable practical experience working with children and adults with disabilities.”

-Charles Hardy, College of Health and Human Services dean
 

Laura Kellogg

TITLE: Registered nurse

ORGANIZATION: The Kellogg’s Care Asthma Advocacy

WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID: “All three of Laura’s children were born with severe asthma. Laura became a Certified Asthma Educator and public health advocate who has established The Kellogg’s Care Asthma Advocacy and volunteers for the American Lung Association Healthy Air Campaign and Mothers and Others for Clean Air.

She started the I Love Lungs Wilmington Walk in 2015 to raise awareness about asthma and the importance of clean air. Later that same year, the Kellogg family joined President Obama at the White House for an afternoon press conference where he announced the Clean Power Plan, a program aimed at substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s coal-burning power plants.

In June 2016, Laura began volunteering as a spokesperson for N.C. Coastal Federation’s My Community: My Voice campaign, in which she shares her insights and knowledge advocating for a more comprehensive Special Use Permit (SUP) process in New Hanover County to help safeguard the county’s air and water quality ...

She is always looking for ways to protect the air we breathe ... She reaches, moves and inspires people to make better choices for now and future generations.”

-Jennifer Salter and Karen Dunn