Dr. Anahi Ortiz Turning Belief to Reality BY PHILLIS HAND Dr. Anahi Ortiz has had a multi-faceted life, but it has always involved helping others. Anahi was born in New York, where she grew up with a loving family, but challenging circumstances. Her father was an alcoholic who left the family when she was 5. She was raised entirely by her mother, an immigrant from South America. On one hand, the environment that she grew up in saw her witnessing people buying and selling drugs to be able to support their families. On the other, she has a brother who became an aeronautical engineer and a sister who became a fashion buyer for several popular fashion businesses. At 17, Anahi got an after-school job to help her family financially. She was supported by her mother, who felt education and goals were extremely important. Anahi attended a six-year BS-MD program in New York, receiving her medical degree from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn. She practiced pediatrics, and worked with the at-risk population in New York and Washington state before moving here to Ohio. After moving to Columbus in 1996, Anahi worked at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, eventually leaving for what is now PrimaryOne Health. From there, she did medical consulting for the Social Security Administration. Throughout all of these jobs, Anahi volunteered in areas where her skills were needed, including Timmy Global Health, Helping Hands Health and Wellness Center and Meals on Wheels. Anahi met then-Franklin County Coroner Dr. Jan Gorniak while working as a medical consultant. Gorniak encouraged Anahi to add her name to a list of candidates for appointment to the coroner’s job when Gorniak left midway through her term to take a job in Atlanta. Anahi was appointed in 2014, ran for election in 2016 and 2020, and was elected each time. One of Anahi’s goals as coroner is to make sure the agency is culturally sensitive and available to all people. She also aspires to make the office an agency of excellence by improving the recruiting process, increasing educational opportunities for staff – especially in leadership development – and encouraging presentations to state and national organizations. In March 2015, Franklin County created an overdose fatality review to study drug deaths in the county. Franklin County Public Health, ADAMH and Maryhaven collaborated with law enforcement to look into overdose deaths and their underlying causes. From that meeting, Project DAWN was recruited to bring overdose education and naloxone distribution to Franklin County. Franklin County Public Health now leads Project DAWN. In 2019, Anahi applied for a sub-grant through Franklin County Public Health to provide the means for an epidemiologist to submit statistics for overdoses, suicides and homicides. The next year, an intervention specialist was added through the grant to develop possible solutions to overdose ENVISIONPROVENSUCCESS.COM | 31
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