Cover 2 Resources

Greg interviews Mark O’Brien, the Director of Opioid Overdose Prevention and Treatment for the city of Baltimore. Many U.S. cities have first responders carrying the heroin-antidote naloxone, but in Baltimore they have a loftier goal of getting the lifesaving drug into the medicine cabinet of every resident. Mark discusses this innovative addition to the Staying Alive program and how it works.

Dr. Nicole Labor, Addiction Medicine Specialist at Summa Healthcare in Akron, Ohio, once struggled with a heroin addiction that pushed her to pursue a career in addiction treatment. “At the end of school you choose the field you hate the least… [Addiction Medicine] is a field that requires you to be honest and set boundaries. Since those were things I was working on in my own recovery, I thought it would be good for me,” says Dr. Labor.

Tracy Plouck is the director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction (MHAS) Services and has been a member of Governor John Kasich’s Cabinet since January 2011. As director of MHAS, Tracy has been witness to the effects of the opioid epidemic statewide. She explains what she has seen as director. “Since addiction has been affecting so many families, there has been a reduction in stigma. People are now aware that [addiction] transcends all walks of life,” says Tracy.

Since 2015, Jennifer Mason and her staff have been working to respond to the opioid epidemic in Butler County with an opiate task force. Jennifer is the Fort Hamilton Hospital EMS Coordinator and the Founder of Fort’s Opiate Recovery Task Force (FORT) and its Golden Ticket Program, a program for addicts who come into the hospital’s ER for overdose treatment.

The suboxone program of First Choice Community Healthcare (FCCH) of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has seen great success over the past few years. Minda Jaramillo, Director of Behavioral Health at FCCH, discusses the program and how it uniquely treats opioid addicts.

Dr. Jeanette Moleski has 26 years of experience as a DO running a family practice in Hudson, Ohio. Over the last 10 years, Dr. Moleski has specialized in the field addiction recovery. She was a round table participant in the Facing Addiction Caucus at this year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

In response to opioid overdoses in Boston, Dr. Jessie Gaeta devised a safe space for rehabilitation called SPOT. She is the Chief Medical Officer of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program or BHCHP. SPOT (Supportive Place for Observation and Treatment) was made with the goal of preventing fatal overdoses in mind.

Dr. Gaeta talks about how a safe place was missing from BHCHP facilities. She explains how SPOT provides a haven for over-sedated individuals to recuperate, who are mainly poor or homeless. Once they join the program, “they aren’t alone, they aren’t in public, and they aren’t on a street corner with no medical response nearby,” says Dr. Gaeta.

Greg interviews Troy Gahm, the Owner and Operator of Gahm’s Pharmacy in Lucasville Ohio. As a licensed pharmacist, Troy was quoted in Dreamland, a novel about the opioid epidemic in America. After founding the pharmacy in 1996, Troy has encountered problems with the opioid epidemic. He talks about what he has witnessed in his community and overprescribing.

Judge Thomas Teodosio runs a compassionate drug court in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas called The Turning Point.

Upon entering The Turning Point Program, Judge Teodosio's drug court, offenders are assessed for mental health issues and substance abuse issues. Individuals are assessed by community specialists like Summit Psychology Associates and Portage Path Behavioral Health. Judge Teodosio explains the importance of the assessment. “They may have a traumatic event in their past they’ve suppressed or they may have some other mental health issue. Studies show that if you don’t address the mental health issues and the substance abuse issues of a patient, you won’t succeed,” says Judge Teodosio.

Jerry discusses where Dawn education can be found in Summit County. He notes two DAWN clinics established for Narcan education, Summit County Public Health and Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Hospital. Summit County also hosts DAWN clinics at other locations. “Not only are Dawn clinics held in these settings, but we also have the capacity to do Dawn clinics out in the community.”