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Welcome to the Profession, Class of 2028

Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine will welcome the Class of 2028 at the Convocation & White Coat Ceremony today (August 9) at 3:00 pm. Watch the livestream here.

The new students will receive their short white coats that proudly display HCOM and OOA patches. The coats are compliments of the Ohio Osteopathic Foundation and individual physicians and friends of the profession. Thank you to all of the donors who contributed this year!

OOA President Douglas W. Harley, DO, will welcome students to the profession on behalf of the membership and explain their white coats are a gift to celebrate their journey to becoming osteopathic physicians.

In addition to the presentation of the white coat, the college awards its highest honor, the Phillips Medal of Public Service, to individuals who embody excellence in osteopathic family practice, hospital administration, and public policy leadership.

Orientation started Monday, with students convening at their local campus. The HCOM Dublin campus welcomed students with a 10th year anniversary celebration attended by hundreds of former students, local physicians, and other supporters. Yesterday, all students joined together in Athens in preparation for today's events.

OOA Joins Advocates to Improve Immunization Rates

OOA Executive Director Heidi Weber, and former Executive Director Jon Wills attended the Immunization Summit this week, August 7, hosted by the American Academy of Pediatrics-Ohio Chapter. There were nearly 70 in-person and virtual attendees gathered to discuss how to make an impact on immunizations at the Statehouse, clinics and in communities.

The day focused primarily on Ohio’s childhood and adolescent vaccination rates. Like most other states, Ohio’s vaccine rates have dropped due to vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and strong backlash to CDC recommendations for COVID vaccine in recent years. Ohio is one of only eight states that permits philosophical exemptions.

In addition to discussing legislation and policy, immunization experts shared how to reframe the conversation with parents, address vaccine hesitancy, and work with rural populations.

The summit coincided with National Immunization Awareness Month, an annual observance every August to educate patients about the power of vaccines to prevent disease and save lives. Research has consistently shown that health care providers are the most trusted source of vaccine information.

Meet Your State Legislator

It’s fundraising season for legislative candidates for the Ohio Statehouse. That means golf outings and receptions—and an opportunity to chat directly and informally with lawmakers involved with health care legislation and policy.

The Ohio Osteopathic Political Action Committee (OOPAC) has already made donations to candidates, which covers the reception ticket price and green/cart fees. Now, we’re looking for DOs who live in these cities who are interested in attending.

At this time, there are receptions scheduled for:

• Catawba Island August 15
• Fairborn August 22
• Columbus September 19

The golf outings, starting at 9:00 am, are:

• Dublin August 22
• Mansfield August 23
• Circleville August 27
• Cincinnati August 29
• Lima September 23

For more information, contact Executive Director Heidi Weber at hweber@OhioDO.org.

State Launches CPR Campaign

As reported previously, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a law requiring automatic external defibrillator (AED) devices to be placed in Ohio schools. Following that, a joint effort was launched encouraging every Ohioan to learn basic bystander care.

The Every Minute Counts campaign emphasizes the importance of hands-only CPR in addition to AEDs as methods of bystander intervention that help increase survivor rates for an individual in sudden cardiac arrest. The awareness campaign, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Ohio Division of Emergency Medical Services, includes social media posts and community engagement by local EMS agencies.

According to the Ohio Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES), 30 Ohioans undergo a sudden cardiac arrest every day, but only 10% survive. Nationwide, about 350,000 Americans annually suffer a sudden cardiac arrest – 90% of them die.

During a press conference to announce the effort, EMS officials discussed the need to act quickly and provided instruction on hands-only CPR, noting chest compression tempo should be 100-120 beats per minute. The songs Baby Shark, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and Stayin’ Alive were suggested to facilitate an appropriate rate.

The new law requires AEDs in all public and private schools and local sports and recreation facilities in municipalities and townships of 5,000 residents or more.

Read more about the campaign here.

Ohio Budget Season Has Begun—Already

In Ohio, the state budget is debated every two years (always an odd-numbered year) at the start of a new General Assembly, which usually begins in early January. That means Gov. Mike DeWine won’t release his proposed FY 2026-2027 budget for several months, but work has already begun.

The state’s Office of Budget and Management (OBM) recently provided departments and agencies official guidance for the upcoming budget cycle. Each department must submit funding requests for consideration in DeWine’s executive budget. Licensing boards and commissions have a September 13 deadline. Cabinet and other executive agencies have until late October.

After the governor releases his budget package, the General Assembly takes over the process to debate and consider their own funding and policy priorities. Legislators have a June 30 deadline so the governor can enact the new budget in time for the July 1 fiscal year start.

To learn more about the budget process, see the guide recently issued by Policy Matters Ohio.

US Senate Committee Encourages CMS to Expand OMT Use

On August 1, the US Senate Appropriations Committee held a markup of its FY25 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies funding. The bill and accompanying report include language encouraging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand the use and coverage of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). The report states:

Non-Pharmacologic Treatments for Pain – Non-pharmacologic treatments for pain management have shown to be effective in reducing pain and reliance on prescription opioids. The Committee encourages CMS to consider ways to expand the use and coverage of non-pharmacologic treatments, such as osteopathic manipulative treatment and other alternative treatments as appropriate, for back and other pain.

The AOA worked to include the language and intends to leverage this support to encourage state Medicaid programs to provide coverage/payment for OMT; promote the expanded use of OMT for patients in federal health programs; and advocate for appropriate payment with federal agencies.

See the bill summary here.

Mental Health Report Ranks Ohio 20th

Mental Health America (MHA) has released its 10th annual State of Mental Health in America report, which ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to 15 mental health access and prevalence measures. In this new report, using 2022 data, Massachusetts (1), Connecticut (2), and Maine (3) scored highest against a comprehensive range of well-being metrics. Meanwhile, Nevada (51), Arizona (50), and Montana (51) ranked the lowest. Ohio ranked 20th overall.

Separating adults and youth, the study bumped Ohio up to 17th in adult access to care and lower prevalence of mental illness, but in youth rankings, the state fell to 29th. When measured on access, Ohio moved to the 12th position.

The US continues to be in a mental health crisis, MHA said in a statement. Nearly 60 million adults (23.08%) experienced a mental illness in the past year. Among other findings, nearly 13 million adults reported serious thoughts of suicide and the number of individuals who died by suicide in 2022 was the highest number ever recorded in the US, up after slight decreases in 2019 and 2020.

For more information, see the MHA website here.