Honors an individual whose job performance is considered exemplary by people within their organizations, peers and community members.

ANDRES AFANADOR

TITLES: Medical Director/Clinical Assistant Professor
       
ORGANIZATION: Novant Health New Hanover Medical Group-Autumn Hall/UNC School of Medicine

WHAT A NOMINATOR SAID: “Dr. Andres Afanador has shown a profound commitment to creating a welcoming and supportive environment for patients from diverse backgrounds. As a bilingual Colombian American physician trained in Florida and North Carolina, he is well-equipped to serve individuals from various cultural, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. His cultural literacy is integral to his patient care, especially for those whose first language is not English. Dr. Afanador, the only Spanish-speaking physician on-site, diligently bridges language barriers, ensuring clear communication and navigating the health care system with compassion and respect for his patients’ cultural norms.

Dr. Afanador’s dedication extends beyond individual patient care to broader community engagement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he played a crucial role in providing bilingual health information to the Spanish-speaking community. … His leadership further extended into community service as a founding vice chair of the New Hanover County Hispanic Latino Commission.”

– Edelmira Segovia, UNCW associate director of precollege programs
 

ANGELA IVES

TITLE: Executive Director
     
ORGANIZATION: Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear

WHAT A NOMINATOR SAID: “Angela has been with Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear since its inception in 2003. She was promoted to executive director in April 2016.

With strong community relationships, she and her team have partnered to develop and implement multi-payer care management programs including ones for Medicaid, Medicare and uninsured populations.

With over 30 years of health care and public health experience and 15 years as a certified case manager, Angela and a heavily engaged board of community leaders have created an innovative team with proven results to improve health and generate cost savings.

Angela oversees the N.C. Healthy Opportunities Pilot (HOP) with CCLCF as the network lead, partnering with 50 local human service organizations, prepaid health plans and care management entities. HOP is the nation’s first comprehensive program to test and evaluate the impact of providing nonmedical interventions related to food, housing, transportation and interpersonal safety to high-needs beneficiaries.  …”

– Richard Berg, care navigator, Carolina Complete Health
 

MARY ELLEN NAYLOR                

TITLE: Health and Human Services Dean

ORGANIZATION: Cape Fear Community College

WHAT A NOMINATOR SAID: “As the dean of Health Sciences at Cape Fear Community College (CFCC), Mary Ellen has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and dedication to addressing the critical need for health care professionals in our community.

CFCC works with our community to identify and meet the urgent hiring needs of local employers. With a nursing shortage crippling our region, CFCC knew it needed to react quickly.  (College) President Jim Morton challenged Mary Ellen to drastically increase the number of nurses that CFCC trains. Aside from the expected challenges of this task, some unexpected barriers presented themselves along the way.

Under Mary Ellen’s leadership, CFCC has more than doubled its output of qualified nurses and other healthcare professionals in recent years. ... She worked long hours, crossing institutional lines to forge partnerships with other organizations, ensuring that the necessary resources, support, and training were in place to meet this critical demand.”

– Logan Thompson, CFCC Foundation executive director
 

Read more about all of the 2024 Health Care Heroes finalists here.