John Cranley

for Cincinnati Mayor

Healthcare

The Heroin Crisis

Heroin has increasingly taken a toll on our community and Mayor Cranley is leading with a number of initiatives to ensure we can prevent heroin distribution while rehabilitating the many caught in the throes of addiction.

  • Under Mayor Cranley’s leadership, the city became a founding partner of the Hamilton County Heroin Coalition in 2015. In next year’s budget, Mayor Cranley secured an additional $200,000 on the Coalition’s efforts, which matches Hamilton County’s increase of $200,000.
  • Mayor Cranley eliminated firehouse brownouts, which increased Fire response times to all calls, of which a significant and rising amount are fore heroin overdoses.
  • Mayor Cranley created a pilot Quick Response Team in Police District 3. Quick Response Teams are composed of a police officer, a firefighter, and a rehabilitation specialist from Talbert House. The Teams go out each week and contact those who were revived for heroin overdoses and offer them the ability to get enrolled for rehabilitation services. So far approximately 30% of those contacted have been enrolled for treatment.
  • The city provides free training to community groups on the use of Narcan, which counteracts the effects of heroin and can save a user from an overdose.
  • Mayor Cranley led discussions with the state that resulted in lower costs for Narcan, ensuring the city has sufficient supply for its first responders.
  • Mayor Cranley directed the city’s attorneys to study the feasibility of suing the large pharmaceutical companies that aggressively over-marketed opioids, which has been shown to have begun the heroin crisis.

 

First Ladies for Health

Led by First Lady Dena Cranley, First Lady Barbra Lynch of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, along with First Ladies of 35 area churches, the First Ladies for Health is a volunteer group that educates and connects our community with resources to help them take charge of their health. In addition to the Health Fair, the First Ladies For Health provides health programs to the churches during the year. This continued service helps individuals improve their overall health.

Last year 22 host locations offered through 35 participating churches, provided free health screenings and other health-related services. More than 45 community partners and 800 volunteers were involved with the effort. In two years, this program has served over 3,000 Cincinnatians.