Plus: $50 Million for Eleanor Health, NAATP Awards, and the SHE RECOVERS and Shatterpoof events
By Dulcie Ulloa
New & Next: Policy
New York State’s “Cannabis Conversations” Campaign
Last year New York became the second-largest state to legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and over. Now, as the state gets set to start issuing licenses this fall for the commercial sale of marijuana, it’s rolling out a large-scale public service campaign geared toward consumers. In partnership with the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) unveiled the “Cannabis Conversations” campaign, which includes 15- and 30-second TV ads, and billboards carrying cautionary messages such as “Don’t drive high,” “Be mindful of your smoke in public” and “It’s illegal to cross state lines with cannabis.” The campaign is intended to inform the public about who can legally consume, where they can consume and how to consume safely.
“Education is the best tool to keep New Yorkers healthy as we continue to ramp up this safe, inclusive, and equitable industry,” Hochul said. “With the ‘Cannabis Conversations’ campaign, we’re following through on our commitment to provide New Yorkers with the information they need to safely navigate the new cannabis law.”
New & Next: Industry
Eleanor Health Raises $50 Million
Addiction treatment provider Eleanor Health, which currently serves communities in six states, announced it has raised $50 million in new investment to expand its value-based care model. Eleanor already partners with Tufts Health Plan, Amerigroup, Optum and Aetna, and the new funding will be used to foster additional partnerships, expand into new markets (including Texas) and scale up Eleanor’s care model in the markets where it already operates. By the end of 2022, the company expects to manage more than 60,000 members and be available to 22 million people as an in-network insurance benefit.
Corbin Petro, CEO and co-founder of Eleanor Health with Nzinga Harrison, MD, said, “Mental health and addiction are some of our biggest health crises, but the problem is not just access to care. Only one in 10 people with SUD and less than half of people with a mental health condition receive treatment, largely due to stigma, quality of care and cost. Our population- and value-based models are designed for the 9 out of 10 people that may never receive care because of these barriers.”
New & Next: People
NAATP’s 2022 Leadership Awards
The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) announced the 2022 winners of its addiction treatment leadership awards. The awards will be presented on May 7, opening night of NAATP National 2022 in San Diego. The winners are:
- Nelson Bradley Career Achievement Award: Mike Schiks, who recently retired after a 40-year career, including 25 years at Hazelden Foundation and 14 as CEO with Project Turnabout.
- Dr. Peter Hayden Diversity, Inclusivity, and Racial Equity Award: White Bison, a Native American-operated nonprofit dedicated to creating and sustaining the grassroots Wellbriety Movement.
- Michael Ford Journalism Award: Congresswoman Madeleine Dean and her son Harry Cunnane. The two co-authored Under Our Roof, a personal account of their family’s journey to recovery.
- Dr. James West Quality Improvement Award: The Research Institute at Cumberland Heights Foundation. The NAATP said, “The Institute’s work has pushed measurement-based care and collaborative outcomes research forward and created a model for a national standardized measurement system.”
- Dr. Jasper Chen See Volunteer Leadership Award: Ruth Ann Rigby, BRC Recovery. The award acknowledges Rigby’s volunteer leadership in addiction treatment, her work as a philanthropist and her service as a board member for the First Responders of Mississippi.
New & Next: Events
SHE RECOVERS in MIAMI Heats Up
In-person registration is still open for SHE RECOVERS in MIAMI, which takes place April 22–24 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla. The signature annual event of the SHE RECOVERS Foundation, SHE RECOVERS in MIAMI will be a celebration of recovery and an opportunity for women to share their recovery stories. Actress and activist Ashley Judd will be the keynote speaker, sharing her lived experience in recovery from childhood grief, trauma and depression, as well as the -isms that often accompany trying to cope with those adverse childhood experiences.
Other speakers include Nadia Bolz-Weber, an ordained Lutheran pastor, the founder of House for All Sinners & Saints in Denver, Colo., and the creator and host of The Confessional podcast; and Jennifer Pastiloff, author of On Being Human: A Memoir of Waking Up, Living Real, and Listening Hard and a popular empowerment workshop leader.
Those unable to make it to Miami can still attend virtually. Virtual participants will be able to join the conference for all keynote and speaker presentations and will be invited to be part of special private online gatherings. For more information and in-person registration, go here. For virtual registration, click here.
Shatterproof’s 2022 Stigma of Addiction Summit
Shatterproof has announced the 2022 Stigma of Addiction Summit, in partnership with Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. This year’s summit will be held virtually on June 8 beginning at 11:30 EST and will once again be free to attend.
Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, MBA, FACP, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, will be delivering the keynote address. In addition, the summit’s programming will feature sessions on stigmas related to harm reduction, the intersectionality of drug policy and racial justice, substance use treatment and more. This year’s summit will also feature an Innovation session highlighting emerging anti-stigma research from around the country. Have a project you’d like to highlight? Submit an abstract for review here.
Registration for the summit opens on April 18. Click here to download a reminder for registration and for more info.
Top photo: NYS Office of Cannabis Management
