WILMINGTON — The Health Alliance of Clinton County (HACC) recently held its quarterly meeting at Cape May Campus Center.
President Louanne Blumberg welcomed 29 members and guests for a brief social gathering, followed by a wonderful spring buffet dinner.
Following dinner, Vice President Kathleen Havey presented the results of the 2nd annual April Fool’s 5K/1 mile run/walk. The event was held on the morning of April 1 with 58 runners and walkers participating.
Havey thanked the race sponsors, Clinton Memorial Hospital, Smith Feike Minton, and Get Fit. A $1,000 check from the proceeds of the race was presented to the Wilmington Parks & Recreation Department for the splash pad/skate park project.
The speaker for the evening was Dr. Michael Newman, a retired general surgeon, former Wilmington College professor and service member of Doctors Without Borders. He currently is working with the drug court in Clinton County.
He discussed the issues related to drug abuse in Clinton County and the state of Ohio. Our county has experienced a steady increase in crime, HIV and hepatitis C, much of which is drug related. He also indicated an increase in child neglect and abuse.
The drug court was established to keep low-level drug felony offenders out of jail. The focus is treatment which is intensively supervised by the probation department, stated a media release.
Newman indicated that community involvement including medical, courts, churches, police and fire departments need to be involved to help combat the drug problem.
Following Dr. Newman’s talk, Pat King gave a brief description of the health levy.
The Health Alliance of Clinton County is offering scholarship applications for 2017 to employees of Clinton Memorial Hospital and of health care providers’ offices within Clinton County (including physicians, dental, pharmacy and hospice.)
Scholarship rules and application can be obtained from the HACC website at http://healthallianceclinton.org. The completed application and references must be received by Friday, July 7.
