Healthcare Leadership Council Joins Over 100 Organizations in Collaborative Effort to Combat Opioid Misuse and Drug Overdoses

HLC Will Engage in Action Collaborative Launched by National Academy of Medicine to Develop Multi-Faceted Solutions to Major Public Health Crisis 

WASHINGTON – The Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), a coalition of chief executives from all sectors of American healthcare, is among the more than 100 organizations that will comprise the Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic, a public-private partnership announced today by the National Academy of Medicine.

HLC president Mary R. Grealy said, “Drug misuse and overdose-related fatalities and injuries represent the greatest public health crisis confronting our country.  The responsibility for advancing solutions, and the capability to develop and implement them, belongs to no one sector and no single industry.  Whether it’s improving what we’re doing in treatment, recovery, prevention, education, research, or effective use of data, we all have a role to play in reversing the destructive trends that are destroying lives and damaging communities.  We applaud the National Academy of Medicine for its leadership and vision in bringing these organizations together.”

Ms. Grealy said HLC’s engagement in the Action Collaborative will provide an opportunity to build upon the work her organization began last year.  In 2018, HLC sponsored a National Opioid Solutions Summit in Washington, D.C. involving leaders from over 70 healthcare, business, academic and patient advocacy organizations.  That summit led to the creation of “A Roadmap for Action,” which included over 30 consensus recommendations for legislation, regulatory action and private sector initiatives.

“I am optimistic that, working together with all of these organizations, we will develop a pathway out of this crisis,” she said.  “We can ensure effective and available treatment for the millions of Americans afflicted with acute and chronic pain while, at the same time, taking innovative action to prevent misuse and addiction.”