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During the 10 years that Tracy Plouck anonymously volunteered for her local crisis hotline, she encountered many people who shared their struggles with various government systems—from losing their Medicaid enrollment to losing faith in various job and family services.

But some of the callers were more hopeful.

“Sometimes I would get a call that really spoke to the progress that [Ohio] as a state was trying to make,” says Plouck. “I received one call from a woman who said that it seemed like Governor [John] Kasich cared about people because he extended Medicaid, and she was able to get into recovery for heroin addiction as a result. She had no idea she was speaking to the head of the state department that ran [Mental Health and Addiction Services].”

That type of “undercover” work is a fitting reflection of Plouck’s long-time work behind the scenes to help Ohioans get the help they need to live healthier and more fulfilling lives.

During her 24 years working for the State of Ohio, Plouck held roles ranging from state Medicaid director to deputy director of both the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities and the Ohio Office of Budget and Management. From 2011 to 2018, Plouck served on Kasich’s cabinet as director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

“I loved [working in] state government,” says Plouck. “From the time I was a young girl, that was what I wanted to do, which sounds bizarre.”

So, why make the leap from the statehouse to OHIO? As it turns out, Plouck discovered plenty of opportunity for continued public service when she joined the College of Health Sciences and Professions (CHSP) in mid-2018 as its population health executive-in-residence.

“It seemed like an intriguing opportunity,” explains Plouck, who now works from OHIO’s Dublin campus. “[I was drawn to] the basic mission of the role, [which] was to help add value to local communities in respect to mental health and addiction services.”

True to form, Plouck hit the ground running once on board—writing grants and furthering six projects including the 91̽�� Opioid Task Force and the Southeast Ohio Child Behavioral Healthcare Collaborative. She became a key member of the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, a joint venture between CHSP and University of Toledo’s College of Health and Human Services.

Plouck’s impact quickly became evident in a $1.1 million POWER grant secured for the Appalachian Recovery Project (ARP), which will train 45 new community health workers at OHIO and create a “recovery ecosystem” throughout southeast Ohio for approximately 300 justice-involved women dealing with substance abuse disorders.

One of the most visible aspects of the project is the transformation of the Hocking Correctional Facility, which has sat vacant near Nelsonville, Ohio, for over a year. The new iteration of the three-story building will house a jail on the top two floors, while the first floor will act as a residential-style treatment center. Primary care and addiction services will be provided by STAR Community Justice Center and Hopewell Health Centers, while OHIO’s College of Fine Arts will offer art and music therapy. Inmates will also receive vocational training at Hocking College, starting with welding and expanding to other fields.

According to Plouck, the solution the new facility will provide is two-fold—helping offset the shortage of jail space for women in the region and paving the way for successful re-entry and recovery.

“Oftentimes, if a person has an incarcerate stay, the time they are released is of great risk, relative to possible relapse,” shares Plouck. “We want to help enhance the person as they return to the community—wrapping services around them and providing resources that will enable them to have a better start than they otherwise would have.”

Lesli Johnson, an associate professor in the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, has worked with Plouck on a number of grants and admires her catalytic qualities.

“[Tracy] is able to take things from an idea or policy perspective to the point where actual action and activity is going on,” says Johnson. “She bridges the more academic nature of the University with the practical needs of our region and state.”

Though Plouck’s proverbial plate is certainly overflowing in her new role at OHIO, she says she can’t think of a more powerful way to make a meaningful mark on the world.

“My assignment is to help achieve positive things. Who could ask for anything better than that?”

Illustrations by Nicolas Ogonosky