McLean County Coroner to Address Opioid Crisis

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — As the opioid epidemic continues to grow into a public health crisis, McLean County Coroner Kathy (Davis) Yoder will present a talk on the national and local effects of opioid abuse on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Hansen Student Center (300 E. Beecher St., Bloomington). This event is free and open to the public.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from 1999 to 2014, 165,000 Americans died from opioid prescription overdoses. Total medical expenses to treat opioid abuse cost an average of $72 billion each year.

Both Yoder’s background as a nurse practitioner and her current position as county coroner have provided her valuable insight into the opioid crisis. After graduating from the Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University with a Master of Science in Nursing in 2005, Yoder received board certification as a family nurse practitioner. She then joined the neurosurgery team at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois, while also teaching at Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University.

Yoder earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she continued to provide care to neurosurgical patients at Carle Foundation Hospital. Yoder worked on research for a “cooling brain helmet” that would help combat brain injuries, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Yoder, a lifelong McLean County resident, was appointed McLean County Coroner in November 2014. She also currently serves on Advocate BroMenn’s Governing Council and the Mennonite College of Nursing Strategy and Planning Council.

Yoder’s talk is sponsored by Illinois Wesleyan University’s Counseling and Consultation Services. For more information, please contact executive director of Counseling and Health Services Annorah Moorman at amoorman@iwu.edu.

By Rachel McCarthy ’21