Dr. Dave Michael, medical director, ECU Health Lifestyle Medicine, accepts the 2026 Special Recognition Award for Health System Innovation at ACLM’s annual conference on Monday, Nov. 9.
GREENVILLE, Pitt County — ECU Health has received a national award recognizing its efforts to help patients manage chronic health conditions through healthier lifestyle choices.
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) named ECU Health the recipient of its 2026 Special Recognition Award for Health System Innovation, recognizing the health system’s approach to integrating lifestyle medicine into patient care.
The award highlights ECU Health’s work addressing chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, <a overall health.
“In eastern North Carolina, we see every day how conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease affect the health and quality of life of our patients and communities,” said Dr. Dave Michael, medical director of ECU Health Lifestyle Medicine.
“Lifestyle medicine gives us an opportunity to address those challenges more holistically by looking beyond a diagnosis to the factors that influence a person’s overall health to help patients make meaningful, sustainable changes that improve their health and, in many cases, reduce the impact of chronic disease,” Michael said.
What is lifestyle medicine?
ECU Health’s Lifestyle Medicine program focuses on helping patients make sustainable changes through six areas of healthy living:
- Healthy eating: Emphasizing whole, plant-based foods.
- Physical activity: Encouraging increased movement and <a s care plan is tailored to their individual needs and goals, with support from a team of health care professionals.
The approach aims to help patients improve their overall health while reducing the impact of chronic diseases.
National recognition for innovation
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine recognized ECU Health as a national model for incorporating evidence-based lifestyle medicine into a large health system.
The organization highlighted several <a s participation in the Lifestyle Empowerment Approach for Diabetes Remission (LEADR) program.
Through that initiative, ECU Health helped pilot and refine a diabetes remission model designed for use in everyday clinical settings.
The health system has also incorporated lifestyle medicine assessments and tools into its Epic electronic health record system, allowing clinicians to include lifestyle-related support in routine patient care.
ACLM also recognized ECU Health’s exploration of artificial intelligence and clinical informatics as potential tools for improving health care delivery.
ECU Health is a founding member of the ACLM Health Systems Council, which brings health systems together to share strategies and best practices for incorporating lifestyle medicine into patient care.
Recognizing the ECU Health team
Brenda Leigh, director of Lifestyle Medicine at ECU Health, said the award reflects years of collaboration among health care professionals working to make lifestyle medicine more accessible to patients.
“We are incredibly proud of this team and the thoughtful, compassionate work they do to support patients across eastern North Carolina,” Leigh said.
“This award reflects years of collaboration and a shared commitment to making lifestyle medicine practical, accessible and meaningful for the people we serve. Most importantly, it recognizes a team that comes to work every day focused on helping patients achieve their health goals.”
Michael accepted the award on behalf of ECU Health on Monday, Nov. 9, during the Lifestyle Medicine 2026 conference in Orlando, Florida.
The annual conference runs from Nov. 8-11.
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