Mahoning County organizations host second Community Opioid Summit

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Juvenile Court and Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board will host a second community opioid summit from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Covelli Centre.

The two organizations previously hosted a summit in November. The event convened a panel of experts, and drew an audience of approximately 100 people.

Wednesday’s event will feature several panelists, including: Tracy Plouck, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services director; Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Jerad Sutton; Guy Burney of Youngstown’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence; Darryl Alexander of Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program; Mahoning County Coroner Dr. David Kennedy; Dr. Daniel Brown of Meridian HealthCare; Dr. Joseph Sitarik of Neil Kennedy Recovery Center; and people who have been affected by addiction, according to information provided by the mental health and recovery board.

The event also will feature video messages from U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, and Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th.

The discussion will be moderated by Derek Styer of 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

“We are continuing to host opioid summits because we feel they are an effective way of showing the community the strong cooperation and collaboration among the systems,” said Duane Piccirilli, executive director of the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board.

Event admission is free of charge, and members of the public are invited to attend. Refreshments will be available.