FirstHealth of the Carolinas has been awarded on the Forbes list of America’s Best Employers 2026, ranking highest in central North Carolina and 69th nationwide. This award is presented in collaboration with Statista, the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The award list was announced on Feb. 10, 2026, and can be viewed on Forbes’ website.

Forbes and Statista selected America’s Best Employers 2026 through an independent survey from a vast sample of more than 217,000 U.S. employees working for companies employing at least 1,000 people within the U.S. Over 3.5 million employer evaluations were considered. The final score is based on two types of evaluations: personal (those given by employees themselves) and public (those given by friends and family members of employees, or members of the public who work in the same industry), with a much higher weighting for personal evaluations.

Based on the results of the study, FirstHealth is honored to be recognized on the Forbes list of America’s Best Employers 2026.

“We are honored to once again be recognized by Forbes as one of America’s best employers and incredibly proud of the dedicated team at FirstHealth,” said Mickey W. Foster, MHA, chief executive officer of FirstHealth of the Carolinas, in a press release. “Our employees are the heart behind the care we provide, and this award reflects our ongoing commitment to creating the best place to work in health care where team members feel valued, supported and empowered to grow. We believe that when we take care of our employees, they’re able to deliver the exceptional care our patients and communities deserve.”

This recognition reinforces that FirstHealth is poised to continue leading the industry in employee satisfaction, setting a new standard for workplace excellence.