WASC April 2023 - Drugs in the Workplace: What Employers Should Know

Annually, the estimated cost is $10 billion in terms of lost work productivity, injuries on the job, hospitalization, primary health care, and cash assistance to adults too impaired to work or hold a job. On Wednesday, April 19, Stacey Beun MSN, RN, ONC, NE-BC Director of Med/surg and RAMP program at Wooster Community Hospital and Rhiannon Whalen- Harris, Community, Prevention, & Victim Services Director of OneEighty will provide employers with some tools and resources to address drugs in the workplace.

Stacey will share about the resources that are available through Wooster Community Hospital's RAMP program. She has worked at Wooster hospital for 25 years. I have been involved with running our Drug and alcohol withdrawal program (currently the RAMP program) since 2016.

Stacey will cover:

• What is the RAMP program at Wooster Community Hospital
• What is the criteria or population that would qualify for the program
• How to access the program
• What services are offered during the hospital stay and at discharge

RAMP stands for Recover and Addiction Medicine Program that Wooster community hospital offers in collaboration with One Eighty. Dr. Nicole Labor is the medical director for the program. She has a passion for helping those with drug and alcohol addictions in our community. The program is a 3-5 day stay to help those addicted to opiates, benzodiazepines, or alcohol, through physical withdrawal. The hospital has an addiction therapist who works with the patient to arrange for discharge planning, including residential or outpatient programs.

OneEighty offers a variety of resources to educate employers on how to deal with drugs in the workplace. Rhiannon will discuss the drug free workplace training programs offered by OneEighty as well as signs to watch for and treatment options that are available.

Rhiannon will cover:

• What is OneEighty’s Drug Free Workplace Program
• How to access treatment at OneEighty
• Signs/symptoms employers should know

Rhiannon supervises a department with 11 individuals who work to provide community outreach and prevention education in the areas of substance use disorder, violence, and other behavioral health issues.