Dr. Navdeep Kang, Tim Ryan and Dr. Shawn Ryan have a roundtable discussion on the opioid epidemic in Ohio.
Precious Grundy | The Lima News
LIMA — On the road to November, Congressman Tim Ryan made stops across Ohio to address the opioid epidemic. The incumbent Democratic candidate is running against Republican candidate J.D. Vance in the upcoming election for the U.S. Senate. Ryan held a discussion at Brightview Recovery Clinic to determine what can be done to help in the fight.
Brightview serves patients across the country with around 1,200 employees. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Shawn Ryan weighed in on Brightview’s program.
“This is a three-part program with medical, clinical then social. Ninety percent of patients need all three,” said Dr. Ryan. “Some may need way more psychological treatment than they do medical. We don’t identify people with their drugs. It is not who they are.”
During the roundtable, Tim Ryan spoke on the impact mental health and substance use had on the economy.
“All around the state we have issues around addiction and mental health; we came here to see how we could do that better,” said Ryan.
“We are spending a lot of money on these programs and not getting the results we want. What are the reforms that we need to put into place to make sure the taxpayers are getting some satisfaction? We need everyone on board to out-compete China in our economy. We can’t do that if people are not well. We need to figure out how to fix it.”
Many Ohioans have seen the effects of substance use in our communities. Ryan believes it impacts not only families but the workforce.
“I am co-chair of the addiction treatment and recovery caucus and have been for many years,” said Ryan. “I have been trying to draft legislation around the addiction issues with opioids, heroin, fentanyl and meth.
“How do we get this junk out of our country; but also how do we help people who have been addicted? This is a main priority. I think it is directly linked to the economy too. You can’t have a strong economy unless you have skilled workers who are well. We can’t have an addiction approach that is not getting people well. These guys are doing a great job but it is tough for them to make it because they are not getting enough money to get it rolling,” Ryan said.
“Some people believe it is in the rural areas or urban areas but it is everywhere,” he said. “This is a problem that we hear about all over the state. If Ohio wants to thrive we have the Intel project, and we have big economic development plans in this state, but we are not going to be able to meet the demand of the workers if we don’t have everyone on the field playing for us and that is what this visit is all about.”
