Faculty

 Dana Vallangeon, MD, arrived at OACHC in the spring of 2019 as the new Chief Medical Officer. As CMO, she assists in efforts to lead health center clinical teams to the highest levels of quality and operational efficiency. Her dual board certification in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine supports her work with the OACHC Behavioral Health and Quality teams to continue the adoption of effective Substance Use Disorder treatment throughout Ohio’s FQHCs. A former health center CEO and staff physician for over 17 years, she has also been a medical director at a free clinic and at a substance use disorder/mental health treatment facility, along with an ongoing role as adjunct medical school and Family Medicine residency faculty. She received her M.D. degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and her B.S. degree from Olivet Nazarene University.

Tracy Plouck, MPA, is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Ohio University, where she works to support the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health.  The Alliance coordinates a network of nearly forty organizations that partner to address various population health challenges across Ohio. As a part of this effort, Tracy works with local communities throughout the state to build mental health and addiction service capacity.  Example activities include grant writing and administration, training and facilitation, workforce development planning, and project management responsibilities. From 2011 to 2018, Tracy was Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. During that time she also served as President of the   National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and as Vice Chair of the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center. For more than 20 years, Tracy held a variety of leadership roles for the State of Ohio, having served twice as the state’s Medicaid Director and also deputy director of both the Ohio Office of Budget and Management and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. Tracy currently serves as a board member of both the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Delaware/Morrow County, Ohio NAMI affiliate. Tracy completed her BA at Kent State University and her MPA at The Ohio State University.

Amy Black, MSN, APRN, NP-C: For the past decade, Amy has been a primary care provider for Hopewell Health Center.  During that time, she has become involved with the Hocking County Municipal Vivitrol Drug Court program.  Amy was instrumental in the development of a Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program in the Hopewell Health Center Logan primary care office, and successfully rolled out the same program to other Hopewell Health Care sites in ten counties. She has presented on this MAT model at various conferences and meetings across the state. In the recent past, Amy has served as a national-level speaking provider for the pharmaceutical market. Amy earned her Associate Degree in Nursing at Hocking College School of Nursing, completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Ohio University and earned her Masters of Science in Nursing from Otterbein University.  Amy is a member of OAAPN.  She also is a member of the Hocking Valley Community Hospital Board of Trustees.  In 2016, Amy was awarded the Valeria Ann Marks Substance Abuse Prevention Award.

Dawn Graham, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Social Medicine at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. She earned a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Purdue University in 2010 and a Master of Arts in Applied Behavioral Science from Valparaiso University in 1999. Clinical experience includes work at the University of Chicago Hospitals, Michigan City Area Schools, Danville Veterans Hospital, Purdue University, Porter Starke Community Mental Health, and Logansport State Psychiatric Hospital. In addition, she has experience running a multi-million dollar federal grant to promote maternal/child health in Southeastern Ohio with university and community partnerships in coordination with the Ohio Department of Health. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and previously acted as the chair of the Ohio Psychological Association Public Sector Issues committee. She is a certified community health worker through the Ohio Board of Nursing and is a CHW master trainer in the community. In addition, she has participated in national webinars and speaking engagements for SAMHSA’s- Rural Behavioral Health, The March of Dimes, and The American Institutes for Research. Areas of interest include creativity and mental health, community psychology, rural health, and policy change. Current projects include qualitative research on integrated healthcare in rural settings across the United States. Her research interests also include the impact of compassion fatigue for healthcare professionals working with underserved patients and spent years teaching Trauma-Informed Care and Mindfulness to health professionals. Within the community, Dr. Graham volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, OU Woman’s Mentoring Program, and Athens Girls Rock Camp. She is a current board member for The Gathering Place and is on the leadership team for the annual Paw Paw Festival. Dawn spends her free time camping, fishing, playing music, and chasing her three Basset Hounds.

Ericka Ludwig, LPCC-S,LICDC-CS, earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Capital University and her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Wright State University. Ericka has been employed at Hopewell Health Centers for the past eight years providing direct clinical care to clients who have co-occurring mental health and substance use concerns. She is currently the Outpatient Supervisor/Coordinator of counseling services where she provides both direct care to a small case load of clients as well as provides clinical and administrative supervision of counseling staff. She has been involved in innovative programs addressing substance use concerns including the Hocking County Municipal Drug Court programs, Rapid Access, Project HOPE, and recovery housing. She was awarded the 2015 Hocking County Mental Health Advocate Award for her work on the creation of the county’s first recovery house.

Weitzman Institute Disclosure Statement

It is the policy of the Weitzman Institute to ensure that Continuing Education (CE) activities are independent and free of commercial bias. To ensure educational content is objective, balanced, and guarantee content presented is in the best interest of its learners' and the public, the Weitzman Institute requires that everyone in a position to control educational content disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. An ineligible company is one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Examples can be found at accme.org.

Faculty participating in a Weitzman Institute-sponsored activity must disclose to the planning committee and audience all financial or other relationship(s) with ineligible companies.

Faculty Disclosures

No faculty disclosed a relevant financial relationship for this program.