Medical Director, Office of Opioid Safety
The MetroHealth System
Olmsted Twp, Ohio
Joan Papp, MD FACEP is an Associate Professor in Department of Emergency Medicine at MetroHealth Medical Center. She graduated from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo in 2000 and the MetroHealth/Case Western Reserve University residency program in Emergency Medicine in 2004 and is board certified in both emergency and addiction medicine. She founded of the MetroHealth Office of Opioid Safety and Cuyahoga County Project DAWN naloxone distribution program.
Dr. Papp’s local and statewide advocacy work led to increased access to naloxone, good Samaritan legislation for overdose responders, improved Medicaid reimbursement for addiction treatment and EMS distribution of leave behind naloxone. Current efforts are aimed at expanding access to buprenorphine and lifting Ohio’s burdensome requirements for office based opioid treatment.
The MetroHealth emergency department was the first in the region to initiate ED based naloxone opioid use disorder treatment with buprenorphine and has developed robust resources including educational materials, training for providers, peer support and case management to ensure connection to outpatient follow up. ED based treatment has recently been expanded to include screening for alcohol use disorder, treatment with naltrexone and connection to outpatient follow up. The Office of opioid safety also implemented a walk- in low threshold clinic in 2021 to improve ongoing access to treatment initiated in the emergency dept and county jail.
Dr. Papp has held numerous leadership positions throughout Ohio and the region. She is the current Chairperson for both the Policy and Treatment Subcommittee of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Heroin Action Plan Committee and the Center for Health Affairs Opioid Hospital Consortium. She is the recipient of the 2016 Ohio Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physician (ACEP) Award for Advocacy in Emergency Medicine and the 2018 Cleveland Magazine’s Community Leader of the Year award for healthcare.
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Treating Alcohol Use Disorder in the Emergency Department
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
10:45am – 10:55am ET