The Opioid Discussion
Wednesday October 4, 2017 – Wednesday October 4, 2017
Waller Law Offices
Description:
Join us for lunch on October 4, 2017 at 11:30am to hear our panel discuss the ongoing opioid crisis.
$15 members, $20 for nonmembers. Renew your membership HERE.
Dr. Michael Warren is the Deputy Commissioner for Population Health at the Tennessee Department of Health. Dr. Warren is a board-certified pediatrician. He received his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University and his medical degree from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. He completed his pediatrics residency, Chief Residency, and fellowship in Academic General Pediatrics at Vanderbilt, where he also obtained a Master’s in Public Health. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
As Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Warren provides leadership for various offices and divisions within TDH, including: Family Health and Wellness; Policy, Planning and Assessment; Rural Health; Minority Health and Disparities Elimination; and Grants Coordination and Strategic Alignment.
Dr. Warren previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Family Health and Wellness, a role in which he led Departmental efforts related to maternal and child health, chronic disease prevention and health promotion, and supplemental nutrition. Prior to joining the Department of Health, Dr. Warren served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt and as Medical Director in the Governor’s Office of Children’s Care Coordination. He currently serves as President-Elect for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, the national professional organization for maternal and child health professionals.
Patience Ruffin has experience in working in residential and outpatient services in multiple capacities. She has a Masters degree in Professional Counseling from Argosy, Washington, DC. While in DC she worked as a continuing care counselor in a residential treatment center. Shortly after, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she worked as a Program Supervisor at a community mental health agency. During this time she developed an Outpatient Substance Abuse and Mental Health Program that included Intensive Outpatient Services and a Day Treatment Program for Severely Persistently Mentally Ill clients. She also worked in developing a substance use prevention program for the geriatric population. She has experience with working with specialty and underserved populations including, women, LGBT, and older adults. She is currently a doctoral student within the Counselor Education and Supervision program at Argosy University Nashville. She is currently employed at The Next Door as the Director of Treatment Services. During her time at The Next Door she has helped developed the Sober Living Program for women who need Intensive Outpatient Services in a more structured environment. She is also an active member of her church’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Ministry.
Juanita Chester, Director of Nursing at The Next Door.
Nita Chester graduated with her Nursing Degree from Tennessee State University in 1991. As a young nurse, she worked in the Neo-Natal ICU at Centennial Hospital and saw the effects addiction can have on mothers as well as infants. She’s had a passion to help people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction ever since and has worked in the field of chemical dependency / addiction starting in 1993. She worked at Cumberland Heights as the Director of Nursing for eight years helping men and women turn their lives around. She has served as The Next Door’s Director of Nursing since 2016. Her role includes overseeing the detox unit, medical clinic and all medical protocols and operations. She believes all those who are in an addiction treatment program should feel loved and respected in the midst of their detox from addiction in the same way patients are treated in hospitals for diabetes or cancer. She leads the medical department with one main belief that guides her work each day – by viewing chemical dependency as a disease and not a character defect.
Pamela Sessions is the CEO for Renewal House. She received her Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. As CEO, Sessions brings key skills to the 21 year old agency. Uniquely qualified to lead Renewal House to increase services to women and children, Sessions has provided leadership on start-ups, staff expansions and increasing operational revenue.
Sessions, a 30-year veteran in the nonprofit industry, served as VP of Programs for the YWCA of Middle Tennessee and prior to that served as Associate Director for Porter Leath Children’s Center in Memphis. Her past experiences in serving vulnerable women and children provides her with a keen perspective on how to change the lives of Renewal House’s clients providing specialized addiction treatment for women and their children.
Sessions has been recognized as a Top 40 Under 40, One of 50 Woman Who Make a Difference and an Alumnus of Leadership Memphis and is currently involved in many community activities. Sessions enjoys reading, traveling and crafts.
