Governor Mike DeWine calls the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline a great success on its second anniversary.

DeWine says the 19 call centers in Ohio have made contact with around 340,000 people since it started on July 16th, 2022. That is an average of 14,000 phone calls, texts, or chats with people per month, and the average speed to answer a call is 25 seconds, which is better than the national average of 36 seconds. 

Lifeline of Ohio’s Champions for Hope Gala, held in October, recognized individuals and organizations for their dedication to their role in saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation. The award winners were determined by looking at five key tenets that motivate the mission of organ donation: advocacy, collaboration, innovation, diversity, equity and inclusion, and compassion. Individuals were nominated by peers and colleagues. 

On Saturday, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline changed over to the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. People who are experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis can either call, text, or chat by dialing 9-8-8. One of the resources that local people are connected with is Colman Health Services. Over the first weekend, the agency got 46 calls from 9-8-8 in their 14 county service region.