From left to right: Jeffrey Vrabel, chair, Schuylkill Alumni Society; Darryl P. Gordon, 2019 Outstanding Alumni award recipient; Patty Shoener, alumni relations and stewardship officer; William Terrill, Ph.D., 2019 Outstanding Alumni recipient; Patrick Jones, chancellor, Penn State Schuylkill.
Provost Nicholas Jones (left) celebrates with faculty members Lee Silverberg, associate professor of chemistry at Penn State Schuylkill (center), and Jiro Yoshida, associate professor of risk management in the Smeal College of Business (right), at the Open Access Week event held Oct. 24 in the Collaboration Commons at Pattee Library.
Dr. Gillian Beauchamp, emergency medical physician and toxicologist at the Lehigh Valley Health Network, delivered the final expert presentation of the day. Dr. Beauchamp works with an emergency room team and EMS professionals to treat overdose victims. “The idea,” says Beauchamp, “is that hope happens at a place like a hospital. It happens in an emergency department.”
Diane Rowland, prevention services coordinator at the Schuylkill County Drug and Alcohol Program, shared information about addiction prevention and informed attendees how to recognize the signs of drug abuse. Rowland concluded that knowing the signs of drug abuse helps prevent catastrophe, emphasizing, “The sooner a drug problem is recognized, the easier it is to get help.”
Bill Rowan, program director of the Center for Counseling Services at Lehigh Valley Hospital – Schuylkill, spoke about counseling and resources pertinent to the disease of addiction.
Schuylkill County District Attorney Michael O’Pake offered the crowd a legal perspective on controlling the opioid crisis. He admitted that he cannot stop the flow of drugs into the county, but explained that, “My goal is to lessen the impact of drugs in Schuylkill County."
