Washtenaw County Opioid Summit

Register now for the Washtenaw County Opioid Summit, organized by the Washtenaw Health Initiative Opioid Project. This year’s summit will explore how substance use management, treatment, and recovery support services have changed in recent years, and will look at the insights we’ve gleaned from the pandemic’s effect on our local substance use disorder support landscape. … Read more

2019 Open Enrollment

Last year, the national uninsured rate increased for the first time  since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. Approximately 2 million Americans and 25,000 Michiganders lost health insurance coverage between 2017 and 2018. In light of these loss of coverage trends, as well as Michigan’s pending work requirements, this year’s open enrollment activities … Read more

2019 Open Enrollment Event

Last year, the national uninsured rate increased for the first time  since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. Approximately 2 million Americans and 25,000 Michiganders lost health insurance coverage between 2017 and 2018. In light of these loss of coverage trends, as well as Michigan’s pending work requirements, this year’s open enrollment activities … Read more

Washtenaw Opioid Summit takes aim at the stigma surrounding substance use disorder

Story by Matthew Hill, Washtenaw Health Initiative Substance Use Disorder Program Manager Roughly 250 people, representing many different professional and community organizations, participated in the second county-wide opioid summit held on October 1st, organized by the Washtenaw Health Initiative Opioid Project. The Opioid Project’s co-chairs, Nicole Adelman and Jimena Loveluck opened the event by focusing … Read more

Seven cross-agency teams kick off SUD systems change transformation work with 100-day challenge

Since November 2018, dozens of representatives from Washtenaw-area organizations that are deeply involved in the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders (SUD) have been participating in an SUD system transformation process hosted by the Washtenaw Health Initiative. The goal? To improve the county’s SUD prevention and treatment system by identifying system barriers and weaknesses … Read more

Voice of the WHI: Peter Jacobson, Professor Emeritus of Health Law and Policy

On June 19, 2019, we sat down with Peter Jacobson, a founding member of the Washtenaw Health Initiative Steering Committee. Jacobson, who recently retired from the WHI and Washtenaw County Health Department governing bodies to move closer to family in Washington, DC, shares his commitment to public health, his history with the WHI, and his … Read more

Washtenaw County Opioid Summit

Register now for the Washtenaw County Opioid Summit, organized by the Washtenaw Health Initiative Opioid Project. In the morning, guests will hear from Jimena Loveluck, health officer for the Washtenaw County Health Department, and Nicole Adelman, clinical and SUD services director for the Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan. The morning keynote will be … Read more

April/May Newsletter: Community leaders discuss WHI’s community-wide care coordination, Voices of the WHI with Ruth Kraut, and more

Community leaders came together on April 3 to discuss the Washtenaw Health Initiative’s community-wide care coordination intervention (aka the SIM) for frequent emergency department users. Directors from the SIM’s 11 founding partners (hublets) and partner entities were invited to attend, and roughly two-dozen came out to participate in the conversation. At tables of eight, patterned … Read more

Voice of the WHI: Ruth Kraut, Program Administrator, Washtenaw County Health Plan

Ruth Kraut, Program Administrator for the Washtenaw County Health Plan, spoke with WHI communications chair Liz Conlin on April 17, 2019. What inspired your passion for public health? Kraut. I started my career in environmental education at the Ann Arbor Ecology Center. I decided to make a career change and received master’s degrees in public health … Read more