Facing the opioid crisis
EDITOR: Several residents of Northern Sonoma County have been leading an effort on a volunteer basis to prepare for and suggest approaches to reduce the risk of harm to local residents from the growing opiate epidemic. As reported by the Sonoma County Health Department, in 2016, an estimated 5.7 percent of people ages 12 years and older (25,462 individuals) misused opioids in Sonoma County, with 22 deaths in the county attributed to opioid use in 2016 alone. Most observers believe that the opioid epidemic may be the single greatest factor decreasing the life expectancy of Americans to below that of previous generations. The community coalition includes Alliance Medical Center, Healdsburg District Hospital, AAUW Healdsburg Branch, Soroptomist International of Healdsburg, Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County, Corazón Healdsburg and local officials, including the Healdsburg chief of police and the Sonoma County Department of Health Services. Additional local organizations are planning to join this effort.
The steering committee includes Dr. Dave Anderson, retired physician from Healdsburg Primary Care, Dr. Walt Maack, retired medical director from the Emergency Department at Healdsburg District Hospital and Terry Leach, a health care attorney and RN who serves as a co vice-chair of Alliance Medical Center and as a director on the board of AAUW, Healdsburg Branch.
The task force is planning for a large community education event on Wednesday, October 3 at 7 p.m. at the Raven Performing Arts Theater. This event, which will feature a documentary and a panel discussion, will be free to the public. The goal of the community event is to describe the breadth of the opiate epidemic nationally and here in our community in Sonoma County, as well as to describe resources for families and communities to help prepare for this public health emergency locally.Â
Members of the public and local agencies and non-profit organizations that are interested in working with the task force and/or supporting the efforts of the coalition are invited to contact the steering committee at Ha********************@al***************.org.
Terry J. Leach
Healdsburg
