Republican Vivek Ramaswamy (left) and Democratic candidate Amy Acton (right). (Photo: WEWS provided by the AV team at the Cherry Valley Hotel.)
NEWARK, Ohio — Both gubernatorial candidates want to improve Ohio’s mental health care system, and each has a vision for a better state, but neither has laid out detailed plans to achieve those goals.
At the state conference of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton tried to take a nonpartisan approach to solving the mental health crisis.
“This is a great ethical opportunity to do what is actually right and set a positive example that unites us across demographic and party lines to solve a problem that knows no demographic,” Ramaswamy said.
Hours later, pandemic health director and Democratic candidate Dr. Amy Acton spoke to alliance members.
“My job as governor is to create the conditions and provide as many resources as I can and, frankly, to as many levels of the community as possible,” Acton said.
Acton is the presumptive candidate because she has no primary opponent. Ramaswamy, who has the party’s backing and millions of dollars raised, will face candidate Casey Putsch on May 5.
Until last week, another Republican challenger, Heather Hill, was competing. Due to the withdrawal of her candidate, all votes for her are now invalid.
Ramaswamy’s vision
In his introduction, Ramaswamy explained his background in the business side of the biotech industry, adding that both his wife and mother are doctors.
“Let us ensure that every patient who truly suffers from a mental disorder has access to treatment,” Ramaswamy said.
He believes spending more upfront on mental health resources could assist lower overall costs and prevent crises.
“We actually incur higher costs if we don’t take action right away,” Ramaswamy said, adding that early intervention would provide a great “ROI,” or return on investment, in the long run.
He did not specify what type of intervention services he would provide, but one of the plans he outlined was the reconstruction of “psychiatric” facilities.
“We will no longer expect or place our prisons in the unfortunate position of having to care for mentally ill people if they are not prepared to do so,” Ramaswamy said.
According to the Department of Behavioral Health, there are six state-run “psychiatric hospitals” in Ohio that specialize in inpatient treatment, but these are short-term facilities where the average stay in intensive care units is about two weeks.
According to Ohio University, which owns the former hospital site, each of the long-term facilities, such as the Athens Sleepwalking Asylum, closed in the mid-1990s due to the “deinstitutionalization movement.”
In some cases, medical facilities took over areas where former “asylums” were located.
Ramaswamy didn’t explain how much these up-to-date buildings will cost, but he has an idea on how to staff them amid a shortage of mental health care facilities.
“I believe it must be an attractive profession, remunerated according to the value actually delivered,” he said.
He said he wants to significantly raise the median and average pay for healthcare providers in the state.
He also wanted to learn more about OSU Ohio State’s adversity and resilience research to best inform a plan to combat mental illness.
The Republican expressed his desire to find a way to change Ohio’s Medicaid system to include mental health and for the system to “deliver excellent outcomes” but also “pay less in the process.”
“The focus is actually on the outcome, not the amount of intervention delivered,” Ramaswamy said.
He also wanted to learn how to better assist providers get reimbursed.
Ramaswamy joked about Acton’s responsibility for helping to “shut down” the state, which led to an raise in mental health problems.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has consistently and vigorously defended Acton against these claims, arguing that he should be responsible for all COVID-19 policy.
Acton’s vision
Dr. Acton began her speech by discussing her upbringing and passion for public health, including the work she has already done in the state with previous leaders such as governors. Mike DeWine, John Kasich and Bob Taft.
“I worked with him on the opiate settlement where we learned from the tobacco settlement that (that money…) wasn’t going to our communities or treating addictions,” Acton said. “Most of them filled the holes.”
While working on RecoveryOhio, she helped local officials obtain money from the lawsuit.
Acton explained that she would raise funding for local programs because they know their communities best.
“Assistance in the local continuum of care depends greatly on the flexibility of funding and programs we can help with at the state level,” she said.
She acknowledged that rural areas in particular are struggling due to a lack of service providers and even hospitals, noting that due to the federal government, many rural facilities are at risk of going out of business due to budget cuts.
“We know the state can’t solve everything that happens at the federal level, but governors and attorneys general can certainly stand up to it,” Acton said.
Sharing her personal experiences of growing up in poverty, living in a tent in Youngstown, and being sexually abused as a child, she knows how much stigma hurts people. That’s why mental health intervention must start early, she added.
“Create prevention systems where we teach skills in our schools that will help us stay resilient and maintain good mental health, as well as knowing how to ask for help and help families,” the doctor said.
Acton also stressed the importance of protecting access to Medicaid.
“We know that many children rely on this for health care, and that’s what we absolutely need, for the governor to make every effort to make sure everyone is covered,” she said.
She took time to criticize Ohio Statehouse leadership without DeWine and her likely opponent, Ramaswamy.
“I think it’s time for change in Ohio,” Acton said to applause.
During her speeches, she received thunderous applause from the audience several times.
Questions without answers
Both candidates entered and exited the event through a door next to the stage.
Each left the event without answering questions from the press seeking to clarify their positions, including how they achieved their goals.
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This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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