Each year more than 2,000 Californians die from opioid overdoses. The opioid epidemic touches us all — from our living rooms to street corners, from doctors’ offices to pharmacies to emergency rooms. The California Health Care Foundation is working with 17 community coalitions across 24 California counties. Their members include physicians, health plans, pharmacists, law enforcement, public agencies, clinic workers and consumers, united to find solutions to this epidemic. In September 2016 Northern California members convened in Oakland; Southern California coalition members met in Newport Beach in November. The gatherings were co-sponsored by CHCF, the California Department of Public Health, and Partnership HealthPlan. Videos and presentation slides from the events are available below.

In the videos, watch Dr. Andrew Kolodny, founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, give a riveting presentation that lays bare the origins of the opioid epidemic. Dr. Andrea Rubinstein, chief of pain medicine for Kaiser Santa Rosa, talks about safely tapering chronic pain patients off high opioid doses, and Dr. Corey Waller shares a straightforward approach with having the hard conversations with patients about their opioid use. Other videos include speakers from local coalitions, explaining how they are changing the tide of an epidemic in their own communities by increasing access to naloxone, driving greater use of medication-assisted treatment for addiction, and much more.

Speakers include:

• Lindsay Coate,* executive director, Placer Nevada County Medical Society
• Pam Conelly,* MPH, project manager, Health Improvement Partnership, Santa Cruz County
• Andrew Kolodny, MD, founder, Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing
• Raymond Lankford,* executive director, Healthy Oakland
• Robert Oldham,* MD, health officer, Placer County Department of Health and Human Services
• Liza Ortiz,* MD, health officer, Tuolumne County
• Ivan Petrzelka,* PharmD, JD, founder of NoRxAbuse, an opioid safety coalition in Shasta County
• Andrea Rubinstein, MD, chief of pain medicine, Kaiser Permanente
• Mark Satterfield,* MD, health officer, Plumas County
• Mike Small, administrator, California Department of Justice
• Karen Smith, MD, director, California Department of Public Health
• Kimberley Tangermann,* director, Lakeview Health Center (Lake County)
• Jose Varela,* JD, public defender, Marin County
• Corey Waller, MD, medical director, Camden Coalition of Healthcare Partners

(*California Opioid Safety Network member)