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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Highlights Work to Fight the Opioid Epidemic

On Tuesday, Sept. 5, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an article on the newly formed Northeast Ohio Hospital Opioid Consortium and The Center for Health Affairs' neutral role in bringing hospitals together to fight the opioid epidemic in Northeast Ohio.

The piece, "In Cleveland, competing hospitals band together to fight opioid epidemic," quotes Thomas Zenty, CEO of University Hospitals, one of The Center's Northeast Ohio hospital members involved in the Opioid Consortium:

"We are competitors,” he said of the other hospitals in the Consortium — Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. “But there was no reticence whatsoever.”

Allisyn Leppla, the Consortium's newly hired executive director, also weighed in on The Center's unique ability to bring area hospitals together to fight the opioid epidemic in the region:

“We would be in a unique position [when we apply for grants] where we’re not just one hospital applying. We really want to approach this as common funding.”

Michael Flaherty, a longtime Pittsburgh clinical psychologist who is co-chair of the U.S. Attorney’s Working Group on Drug Overdoses and Addiction praised the The Center's members for collaborating in order to form a local hospital consortium to address the opioid epidemic and expressed a need for a similar effort in Pittsburgh:

“Clearly we need a vehicle for implementation of strategies that we know work...You have individual interest, but coordination of the effort is still lacking.”

To read the full Pittsburgh Post-Gazette piece, click here.

To learn more about the Opioid Consortium's work to fight the opioid epidemic in Northeast Ohio, contact us.