The Hatch Center—the policy arm of the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation—announced it will be hosting a symposium on innovative solutions to combat Utah’s opioid crisis. The event will be held on Wednesday, January 8 at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In March, the Utah State Department of Injury Prevention Program reported that on average, six Utahns die every week from opioid overdose. In the Beehive State alone, from 2000 to 2015, Utah experienced a nearly 400 percent increase in deaths from the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs. And from 2013 to 2015, Utah ranked as the 7th highest state in the nation for drug overdose deaths. Click here to read the full report.
“During my Senate service, I fought diligently to combat the deadly opioid epidemic. Yet much work remains to be done,” said Orrin G. Hatch, Chairman Emeritus of the Hatch Foundation. “I look forward to the symposium and panel discussion with Utah policymakers and stakeholders from the technology, law enforcement, and healthcare communities. This event will shed light on the importance of public-private partnerships in combating opioid abuse and provide commonsense solutions to tackling the epidemic head on.”
Participants include: Stuart Adams, President of the Utah State Senate; Brad Wilson, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives; Damien Patton, Founder and CEO, Banjo; Mikelle Moore, Senior Vice President and Chief Community Health Officer, Intermountain Healthcare; Anna Fondario, Program Manager, Violence and Injury Prevention Program, Utah State Department of Health; Tom Ross, Bountiful City Chief of Police and Former President, Utah Chiefs of Police; and Brian Redd, Chief, Utah Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Investigation.
