The N.C. Community Action Association’s 2018 Opioid Forum, held Tuesday, May 8, in Asheville, featured a group of panelists discussing the opioid crisis in Western North Carolina.
The panel discussion was moderated by Sonya Greck, senior vice president of behavioral health, safety net, community investment and facilities with Mission Health, and panelists were (from left to right) Chief Bill Hollingsed of Waynesville Police Department, NC; Jan Shepard, public health director with Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services; Anne Seaman, an advocate from Buncombe County; Natasha Penland, family mentor with Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Team of Buncombe County; Barry Hendren, assistant fire chief with Asheville Fire Department; and Jesse Smathers, specialty populations clinical director with Vaya Health.
Carolina Public Press was a media sponsor.
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Read more from Carolina Public Press about the opioid crisis in North Carolina:
- Arrest shows link between opioid crisis and adult care homes
- Buncombe just says no to funds, looks for options for battling opioid deaths
- Treatment – not prison – alternative for drug offenders faces funding questions in NC
- New law enforcement, mental health effort offers treatment, not prison, to suspected drug offenders