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Northern Kentucky Chamber Eggs ‘N Issues tackles the challenges of addiction in the workplace


Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor

The topic for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Eggs ‘N Issues discussion Tuesday morning was addiction, which continues to be a scourge in our region and throughout the country.

A panel that included (left to right) state Rep. Kim Moser, Dr. Teresa Koeller of St. Elizabeth Physicians Journey Recovery Center, Jamie Johnson, Director of Operations at Dorman Products, and Janet Harrah, Senior Director, Center for Economic Analysis and Development at NKU, dealt with the topic of addiction in the workplace at the NKy Chamber’s Eggs ‘N Issues (photos by Mark Hansel).

Battling Addiction in the Workplace was the area of focus and a panel led by moderator, state Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, addressed the topic from several angles.

Janet Harrah, Senior Director, Center for Economic Analysis and Development, Northern Kentucky University talked about the economic impact, while Dr. Teresa Koeller, Medical Director at St. Elizabeth Physicians Journey Recovery Center talked about paths to recovery.

Jamie Johnson, Director of Operations at Dorman Products in Warsaw explained how that company engaged its employees to address issues of addiction and return those who are struggling to the workforce.

Moser served as a registered nurse in neonatal intensive care and as a flight nurse for the UK neonatal transport team. She is also president of the American Medical Association Alliance and is the Northern Kentucky Director of Drug Control Policy.

She said the Northern Kentucky region has been significantly affected in recent years by drug use and overdoses. That includes its workforce and she said a collaborative effort is critical to solving the problem.

“The ability to recruit and retain workers is being challenged,” Moser said. “In addition, for those with family members that are addicted, it further affects their work performance and productivity.”

Many of those in attendance are business leaders who must deal with the impact addiction is having on the workforce every day.

“We know about the rising drug abuse problem and its negative effect on the Kentucky workplace,” Moser said. “I know that you are feeling this and seeing this and are keenly aware of this problem in your businesses and communities (and) probably in your families as well.”

As a member of the Kentucky General Assembly, legislation focused on addiction issues has been one of Moser’s priorities since she was elected in 2014.

She provided some sobering statistics, including:

*An increase in the overdose rate of 49 percent between 2016 and 2017.

* More than 1,400 overdoses last year at St. Elizabeth Hospitals, a number that continues to rise.

*There are now more deaths from addiction than car accidents in Northern Kentucky and nationwide.

*Hepatitis C rates in Northern Kentucky, which can be widely spread through contaminated needles, are 11.9 percent – higher than the national average.

* Kentucky has more children with incarcerated parents than any other state and the great majority of those convictions are related to drugs in some way.

Members of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and guests get breakfast before hearing a candid panel discussion on the challenges of dealing with addiction in the workplace, at the February Eggs ‘N Issues forum.

Moser credits the lifesaving drug Narcan (Naloxone), which reverses the effects of an overdose, for a slight drop in the number of overdose deaths in Northern Kentucky last year. She also praised local organizations such as the Northern Kentucky Health Department and St. Elizabeth Healthcare and the nonprofits Transitions Inc. and the Brighton Center’s Women’s Recovery Center for their efforts in treating addiction.

“If we save a woman and we get her out of the cycle, we are getting her family out of the cycle and I can’t think of anything more important than that,” Moser said.

She added that community partners are focused on an updated regional strategic plan that will address improving access to treatment, prevention, protection and recovery support.

“We don’t do a very good job of supporting those in recovery once they are through treatment,” Moser said.

Harrah also provided some numbers that outline the grave economic impact of addiction to the country and to the region.

“When you start to look at what is the economic impact of the opioid crisis, you will find a wide range of estimates…anywhere from $75 billion a year to $555 billion a year,” Harrah said. “What I will talk to you about this morning is while they are different, they are all valid estimates, it’s just the costs they are including and excluding and how they are accounting for those costs.”

Harrah also cited data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data, including that there were 53,000 deaths from overdose nationwide in 2016.

“The five states with the most deaths included Ohio and Kentucky, which accounted for 11 percent of deaths nationwide and our population is nowhere near that,” Harrah said.

Ohio had 4,300 deaths from overdose in 2016, while Kentucky experienced 1,400 overdose deaths that year.

While the greatest loss is that of human lives, other factors that impact the workforce include the cost of medical care, criminal justice and incarceration and production losses, also called unrealized economic benefits.

Production losses include increased mortality rates, lower workforce participation rates and lower on-the-job productivity rates, increases in non-compensation costs, such as drug testing and increases in turnover rates.

“National estimates are that when you look at the decreased workforce participation rate, about 20 percent of that reduction is due to drug abuse,” Harrah said. “It really comes down to…the unrealized economic benefits and the dollar value they assign to a human life. The estimates that cite lower figures, for example, do not take into account the economic impact victims of drug fatalities could have provided if they had lived.”

To provide some context for comparison to even the low-end economic impact of addiction in the workplace, Harrah cited the budget of some other national programs and departments. The cost to fund the food stamp program in the United States in 2016 was $70 billion. The U.S. Department of Transportation cost was $77 billion and the U.S. Department of Education budget was $78 billion in 2016.

Dr. Koeller said having adequate and successful treatment programs is critical to bringing people out of addiction and back into the workforce.

She said there are basically two types of traditional treatment, residential programs or outpatient programs.

“Residential programs may provide detox, they may provide long-term treatment, anywhere from 28 days to six month, to a year,” Koeller said. “There also intensive outpatient programs that include classes patients go to three days a week, or five days a week, for anywhere from eight weeks to six months.”

The Journey Recovery Center provides outpatient treatment, medication treatment, counseling services and it also take care of pregnant and parenting women.

“If we are looking at residential treatment, Transitions is probably one of the biggest providers in Northern Kentucky…and they also do intensive outpatient treatment, Koeller said. “Brighton Center has the Women’s Recovery Center.”

The Transitions Grateful Life Center and the Women’s Recovery Center are part of Recovery Kentucky, which was developed through the Office of the Governor in the 90s and includes 15 programs statewide.

Johnson’s path to involvement in addiction treatment and rehabilitation evolved through his exposure to a four year-old-girl whose parents were struggling with heroin addiction.

“That’s where the opioid epidemic became very real to me, I was able to look into the eyes of this little girl and see the profound impact it had on her life,” Johnson said. “Fortunately I have been able to call her my daughter for three years, which has been a huge blessing to me and my family.”

It also caused Johnson to ask what more he could do, as a business leader in the community, to make an impact on the epidemic.

“I really didn’t know where to start, so I set out attending a lot of meetings, just like this one trying to find out how I could contribute,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t quite articulate what I was looking for.”

He went back to his plant in Gallatin County, hosted a town hall meeting, and explained the impact addiction was having on the community. That led to the formation of a contributor committee that included the company’s 650 employees, without any real idea of what its goals were.

They formed four subcommittees and used the acronym STAR (support, prevention, awareness and reach) each tasked with tacking a part of the problem and finding ways to contribute.

“What was missing was wraparound programs, things that pull all of the resources together. It’s not just about rehab,” Jonson said. “I think that’s where the business community comes in. We have an amazing and powerful opportunity to be a part of the solution.”

After rehab, individuals often go back to the same circles of influence that led them to addiction. The STAR group’s goal was to be the new influence through the formation of Narcotics Anonymous meetings and other initiatives to meet those with addiction where they are on the road to recovery.

Those efforts ultimately led to the formation of a nonprofit organization that continues to return those struggling with addiction to the workplace.

Johnson said retention rates at Dorman Products are up 60 percent, workers compensation claims are down 70 percent, employee engagement has soared and workers have contributed thousands of hours in the community.

Eggs ‘N Issues takes place monthly at Receptions Banquet and Conference Center – South in Erlanger. For more information on Eggs “N Issues and other NKY Chamber programs and events, click here.

Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com


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