Gold Recognition: Heart and Stroke Healthy City

Photo: Tim Hayward announced the Healthy Nacogdoches Coalition had brought back the gold award from the Texas Council on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke, and presented Kinnie Parker, the chair of HNC, with an award for her work with the coalition. Photo by Keith Lansdale.


Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital presented the Healthy Nacogdoches Coalition with good news – or rather “gold news” today, with the announcement that Nacogdoches had achieved Heart and Stroke Healthy City Gold Recognition.

The designation is awarded by the Texas Council on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke, in conjunction with the Texas Department of State Health Services. Though the city will receive the official recognition plaque next month, officials at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital wanted to share the gold news immediately with the committee that was instrumental in garnering the recognition.

“The gold medal level means that we had a score of 40 out of 40 with ALL Indicators met,” explained Tim Hayward, Memorial Hospital administrator. “The Healthy Nacogdoches Coalition members have worked so hard to secure this award for Nacogdoches. They’ve improved awareness and safety on our walking trails and generated more intense interest in some of the physical activities that are available in Nacogdoches, like the Walk Across Texas campaign. The nutrition committee has been working on a printed and on-line version of a food guide for our local restaurants to better tout their healthy food choices. They’ve also helped raise awareness of what a great local farmers’ market we have here in Nacogdoches. Probably the biggest impact on winning the gold though, was when we asked our city leaders to champion a no-smoking ordinance here in the city and they did. That more than anything gave us the gold.”

Read full story by Keith Lansdale, The Daily Sentinel.

Veiw video of announcement at KTRE.com.