NEWS--FirstHealth Receives Marketing Awards

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FirstHealth Receives Marketing Awards

The Corporate Communications department of FirstHealth of the

Carolinas received one gold (first place) and two silver (second

place) awards for health care marketing from the Carolinas

Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society (CHPRMS).

The three " Wallie Awards " were presented during the annual CHPRMS

conference in Asheville in November. According to event organizers,

the number of entries in the 2005 competition more than doubled

those of the previous year and came from hospitals throughout North

and South Carolina. There were almost 450 entries in 27 categories.

The first-place Wallie went to FirstHealth's full-color magazine,

FirstHealth of the Carolinas, which is distributed quarterly to

households and health care offices throughout FirstHealth's 15-

county service area. The winning fall 2004 issue concentrated

on " Risks and Consequences of Obesity " and defined obesity as second

to and rapidly gaining on tobacco as the nation's greatest

preventable health risk.

The two Silver Wallies recognized a FirstHealth Home Health brochure

and a feature story in FirstHealth of the Carolinas magazine.

The Home Health brochure was created to generate awareness in the

community for the system's Home Health services and to promote a new

TeleHealth monitoring system.

The magazine feature highlighted the services provided by the six

FirstHealth Centers for Health & Fitness by focusing on a senior

adult member of each center and how each manages to stay fit and

active.

The annual Wallie Awards competition recognizes excellence in health

care public relations and marketing. A panel of health care

professionals from outside the region selects the winners.