Ohio Convenes Coronavirus Summit

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine convened a Coronavirus Summit this week for state and local health officials to discuss preparedness measures. Attendees included all of Ohio’s local public health departments, health commissioners and staff as well as members of the Governor’s Cabinet.

There are no confirmed cases in Ohio and as of 2:00 this afternoon, two people are under investigation.

Today, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) opened a call center to answer COVID-19 questions. The call center will be open 7 days a week, 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, and can be reached at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634). Call center staff includes licensed nurses and infectious disease experts.

ODH has received a testing kit from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and will be able to start testing people for coronavirus this weekend. ODH expects to provide testing results in 1-2 days. Until now, the Department had to defer to the CDC for tests, which generally took 3-5 days.

Ohio state agencies are taking a number of steps in response to the virus including:

• The Ohio Department of Transportation will post information in all state rest areas on hand washing protocols.
• The Departments of Rehabilitation and Corrections and Youth Services will increase frequency and use of disinfectant measures in all their state facilities.
• The Governor called on Ohio college and university leaders to urge every student and faculty member on their campuses who have not yet received an influenza shot to get one at their health clinic immediately.
• The Governor is asking the Ohio Department of Aging to continue working with local aging networks to identify the most vulnerable older adults with the highest needs to make sure that plans are in place to meet their needs -- whether that is providing additional meals or additional medication or other personal care needs.
• The Governor is asking local aging advocates across Ohio to go out into their communities to check on nursing care facilities to ensure that all illness prevention methods are in place. 
• The State of Ohio will pay aggressive attention to common areas in state-owned buildings, including significantly increased cleaning frequency of these areas and hand sanitizer stations in common lobbies and hallways.

ODH is now posting daily updates, Monday through Friday, on its website. A COVID-19 resource list is posted on the OOA website.

Statehouse Update

The OOA continues to monitor 70+ health-related bills in the Ohio General Assembly. Three of them were considered this week in the Senate Health Human Services and Medicaid Committee.

• HB 412 would create the Rare Disease Advisory Council.  The Committee heard testimony on the bill for the first time this week, presented by Rep. Randi Clites. This bill, which passed the House with a unanimous vote, would establish a rare disease council made up of 25 members, of which three must be public members who are living with a rare disease. In addition, awareness of rare disease would be expected to increase within the state due to the bill requiring periodic reports detailing incidence of specific rare diseases within Ohio. The OOA supports this bill.
• HB 224 would modify CRNA scope of practice. The bill does not change current requirements that a CRNA must work under the supervision of a physician, podiatrist, or dentist. However, it does allow for the CRNA to select, order, and administer drugs, treatments, and IV fluids related to the administration of anesthesia. This is the third committee hearing after having passed by an overwhelming majority in the Ohio House.
• SB 252 would prohibit ‘fail first’ drug coverage for advanced metastatic cancer. This bill seeks to prohibit insurers from mandating that those patients with advanced cancer must have a ‘failure’ of treatment before progressing onto more advanced drug therapy. Committee Chair Sen. Dave Burke, prior to a unanimous vote to approve the measure, stated that “he was not a fan of mandates.” However, he noted that a fail-first coverage policy for these patients is unrealistic stating, “[for these patients] There is no second try.”  The bill now advances for consideration in the full chamber. 

State Announces First-Ever, Collaborative Suicide Prevention Plan for Ohio

In response to an uptick in the number of deaths by suicide, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation introduced the first-ever, collaborative Suicide Prevention Plan for Ohio last week that will direct the state’s suicide prevention efforts over the next three years.

The plan objectives were informed by data, evidence-based approaches, and lessons learned from current practice. Among the plan’s priorities, the state will:

• Raise awareness of the warning signs and risk factors of suicide.
• Concentrate efforts on integrating suicide prevention practices into health care, public safety, and education services on the local and state levels.
• Build suicide prevention capacity and infrastructure at the organizational, local, and state levels.
• Focus prevention efforts on groups identified as having higher rates of suicide, including youths ages 10-14, males ages 25-59, and veterans and military members.
• Standardize, gather, and utilize data to continuously inform and evaluate the state’s approach.

Late last year, the Ohio Department of Health released its 2018 Ohio Suicide Demographics and Trends Report which showed five Ohioans die by suicide every day, and one youth dies by suicide every 33 hours. Nationally, US suicide rates are at their highest since World War II, according to federal data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest issue of Buckeye Osteopathic Physician includes an article, Suicidality in Ohio: Reversing the Trend in 2020 from the Medical Director at the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

OU-HCOM Student Begins Policy Rotation

E. Scott Wong, PhD, a fourth-year medical student at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine-Athens, started a two-week rotation at the OOA office this week. He met with a state representative, attended a Senate Committee hearing, and reviewed current health care legislation. Next week, he will devote time to scheduling meetings with additional representatives of his district and legislators who impact health care policy. 

Student Doctor Wong is not new to the OOA. In 2017-2018 he served on the OOA Board of Trustees and in the OOA and AOA House of Delegates in his position as OU-HCOM Student Government Association president. During that time he was actively involved in writing policy resolutions, four of which became national policy for osteopathic physicians.

Student Doctor Wong, who is originally from Cincinnati, will give the student commencement speech at the Class of 2020 graduation in May.