NHADACA Annual Meeting & Keynote: "How to Save Lives - Lessons Learned by the NH Drug Overdose Fatality Review Commission" - September 26, 2024

Anna Thomas, MPH is a New Hampshire native and has been with the City of Manchester Health Department for the past 30 years. As Public Health Director, she provides administrative oversight to a comprehensive local health department of 60 full and part time staff with a total budget of over $10,000,000.00. Serving an urban community of approximately 115,000 constituents, she holds a particular passion for neighborhood health improvement, resident mobilization and economic mobility. 

Mrs. Thomas pursued her undergraduate work at the University of New Hampshire in Health Management and Policy and was presented the Department’s Alumni Recognition Award in 2008. She completed her Master of Public Health degree at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The Dartmouth Institute at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. In 2001, she was selected as one of twenty national scholarship recipients by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to obtain her Graduate Certificate in Public Health. In addition, Mrs. Thomas served in the United States Army National Guard and Reserves for 16 years as a Medical Service Corps Officer and achieved the rank of Major.  

Mrs. Thomas is a graduate of Leadership New Hampshire and was recognized by the Union Leader and the Business & Industry Association of NH as one of New Hampshire’s 2006 “Top 40 Under Forty.” She has been an Adjunct Instructor at Dartmouth Medical School and frequent guest lecturer on public health issues at several local academic institutions. She has also served on non-profit boards, foundations and coalitions throughout New Hampshire and was presented a “Key to the City of Manchester” in 2009.  

In 2013, Mrs. Thomas was nominated as a “White House Champion of Change for Public Health and Prevention” and in 2014, received the “Annual Community Leadership Award” from the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester. In 2015, she was presented with the “Jack Lightfoot Voice for Children Award” by Child and Family Services of New Hampshire. In 2017, she was selected as one of 40 “Emerging Leaders in Public Health” nationally by the Kresge Foundation. In 2020, she was awarded “Citizen of the Year” by the Greater Manchester Chamber and in 2021, the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation “AmplifiHER” nomination. In 2022, she received the Loeffler Prize from Southern New Hampshire University as well as the “Knock It Out of the Park Award” from the NH Fisher Cats Foundation. In 2023, Mrs. Thomas was the Commencement Speaker for Plymouth State University and awarded an Honorary Doctor of Public Health Degree. Lastly, Mrs. Thomas is also a twelve-year breast cancer survivor. 

SOR Project Director – Jennifer Sabin is the SOR Executive Project Manager and provides day-to-day management of ongoing and new SOR activities and staff. Jennifer has extensive experience in use of multi-faceted approaches to preventing behavioral health related fatalities and engaging community sectors to address critical issues. Prior to becoming the SOR Director, Jennifer served at the State Suicide Prevention Coordinator at NH DHHS where building a comprehensive approach to problem solving was a key part of her work. 100% FTE Key Personnel

John Burns, CRSW, MBA is a person in long term recovery and the Director of SOS Recovery Community Organization. John has his MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. John was on the initial governance council for SOS to help shape the vision before SOS opened their first recovery community centers. He founded Families Hoping and Coping, a peer based family support group, in Dover in 2014 and they now have 2 chapters . He is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). and has developed Motivational Interviewing curriculums that have been being trained since 2019. He also was involved in the development of The Art & Science of Peer-Assisted Recovery, Ethical Considerations for Peer-Assisted Recovery, AIDS, HIV and Hepatitis Prevention for Peer-Assisted Recovery, Suicide Prevention for Peer-Assisted Recovery and more. He has been training in the peer-assisted recovery field since 2017. John has traveled to both Portugal and Montreal to attend International Harm Reduction Conferences and is an advocate for criminal justice reform, harm reduction strategies and promoting inclusivity, diversity and removing barriers for marginalized individuals. John is a 2019 graduate of Leadership Seacoast Class of 2019. He has been appointed by Governor Sununu to serve on the NH Overdose Death Fatality Review Commission. He has been active member of the Strafford County Addiction Taskforce for several years and the Strafford County Public Health Advisory Council.

Carol Furlong retired from Elliot Hospital as a SUD Consultant in December 2023. She has worked in the Mental Health and Substance Use environment for over 40 years. She began her career as a substance use counselor working for the Department of the Army in Germany and continued her Behavioral Health career upon her return to New England. She has developed and managed programs and provided direct care in all levels of care – inpatient, ED, PHP, IOP and outpatient services and created the first SUD Department at Elliot Hospital. Carol strongly believes in integrated care – creating the first integrated BH/Primary care Clinic in Milford, NH in the mid-nineties and a fully integrated Healthcare for the Homeless Clinic that provided MH/SUD and dental services to lower income and homeless individuals. She also initiated a Mobile Healthcare van. Carol strongly promotes addressing all areas that impact in an individual’s recovery – housing, benefits, employment, family etc. As a result, she created four Transitional Living Residences for homeless veterans that eliminated veteran homelessness in 2000-2005. She implemented employment and benefits programs in the medical and housing services that she created/directed and initiated the state’s Facilitating Organization grant which was instrumental in creating Recovery Support organizations.

Carol received her Master’s Degree in Counseling and Family Therapy from the University of Southern California and her MBA in Healthcare Administration from Rivier College. She was an adjunct professor at Rivier College for 15 years and at Springfield College for 4 years. Upon her initial return from Germany, she was asked to return to speak on Codependence and strongly advocated for family components of ongoing treatment. She continues to provide presentations on a number of topics.

David Mara, JD, is the Governor's Advisor on Addiction and Behavioral Health. Mara was previously Manchester Police Chief and interim police chief in Portsmouth. “Chief Mara has served with distinction on the front lines of law enforcement and has seen first-hand the impact of drug misuse and the importance of solving our mental health crisis,” Sununu said when announcing Mara’s appointment. “This experience, combined with his great communication skills and service to community, will benefit our statewide efforts to combat these crises.”

Chris began his emergency medical services career as an EMT in 1981. He went on to achieve his Paramedic certification in 1984 and became one of the first handful of practicing Paramedics in the State of New Hampshire. He has been directly responsible for managing the emergency medical services delivery systems for the cities of Nashua and Manchester, NH for over 30 years.   
Chris is actively involved in a number of local & state service organizations and is a key participant in the New Hampshire EMS community for strategic planning and policy development. He has a Bachelor of Science in Fire/Emergency Services Management and is now in his 40th year as a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic.  He currently serves in the role of Public Information Officer for AMR’s National FEMA Disaster Response Team contract. 

He is a recognized leader in coordinating the emergency medical services response to the opioid 
epidemic in NH.  Chris was responsible for the EMS component of the award-winning Safe Stations programs for both Nashua and Manchester which collectively provided a gateway to substance use disorder treatment to thousands of NH residents.   
Chris is a legislatively appointed member of the State of NH Opioid Fatality Review Commission. He also currently serves as an appointee of the Governor on The New Hampshire Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Coordinating Board and The New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council.  Chris also currently serves as a board member of the New Hampshire Ambulance Association.  He frequently speaks at public and educational forums about NH’s opioid epidemic and the unprecedented response from the public safety and recovery communities to combat it. 
Chris and his wife of 34 years Lara are both NH natives and live in Hollis, NH.  They have triplet children, Anna, Jack and Benjamin.