Research Triangle Park, NC - The EI Group, Inc. (EI) is excited to announce the addition of Ruth Barlow, RN, COHN-S as the firm’s Occupational Health Services Director.  Ms. Barlow joins EI with more than 20 years of experience in managing employee safety and health.  In her new role as Director, Ruth will be responsible for managing a staff of occupational health professionals and providing medical surveillance services to a diverse group of clients in the public and private sector.   Ruth will also play an integral role in the expansion of EI’s workplace wellness initiatives aimed at maintaining a healthy workforce while at the same time reducing the cost of rising healthcare for employers.

Prior to joining EI, Ms. Barlow served as North Carolina’s Statewide Wellness Coordinating Director and Managing Partner in Safety where she focused her efforts on the coordination and implementation of the State’s Comprehensive Wellness Initiative.  In her role as Statewide Wellness Coordinator, Ruth was tasked with the challenge of providing over 92,000 state employees with opportunities to improve their health and wellness.  Preceding her role with the State, Ms. Barlow founded Optimal Outcomes, a firm specializing in occupational health and safety, managed occupational health at Cooper Tools in Apex, NC and was the Workers’ Compensation Program Manager for the Park Medical Occupational Health Clinic in RTP, now owned by Concentra.  Ruth holds a MS in Occupational Health Nursing from the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill, is a board Certified Occupational Health Nurse and served as a Certified Case Manager for many years.  As a result of her strong leadership and lifelong commitment to worker safety and health, Ruth was recognized as the NC Tarheel Occupational Health Nurse of the year in 1995, was inducted into North Carolina’s Great 100 in 2000 and most recently received the 2011 Jim Long Individual Achievement Award for Prevention Excellence from NC Prevention Partners.

Greg Lathan, President of EI, commented, “For years, we have recognized that Ruth’s background as a well-respected advocate of employee health, safety and wellness, coupled with her reputation in the occupational health community, make her the ideal candidate to provide the leadership and vision to EI’s fastest growing segment of business.  We are proud to have her join our team.”  Given the continuing rise in healthcare costs faced by employers across the United States, EI’s Occupational Health Department is focused on implementing wellness initiatives that will create healthier workforces, reduce medical insurance costs and provide a substantial return on investment for wellness dollars.

About The EI Group, Inc.
The EI Group was founded in 1988 as an environmental, health and safety consulting firm dedicated to providing quality, cost-effective consulting, training and engineering services to the public and private sectors nationwide.  EI, a privately owned company, employs approximately one hundred (100) professionals and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, with branch offices in Charlotte North Carolina; Richmond and Roanoke, Virginia; Greenville, South Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky; and Dallas, Texas.

For more information on The EI Group’s Occupational Health Service capabilities, please contact Adam Underwood, at aunderwood@ei1.com or 800.717.3472.

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