Dr. Tanvir Singh was well into his career as a psychiatrist when the opioid epidemic made him recalculate how he could make the greatest impact.
“I was working in community mental health, and I lost so many patients from overdoses. It’s hard to even count,” Singh said. “I was focused on mental health, but I had people dying from addiction. I realized I needed to do something about that.”
Dr. Tanvir Singh, a psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist at UTMC, received the alcohol and other drug professional of the year by the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County during a May 1 banquet.
He elected to dive into addiction medicine, ultimately becoming board certified in the subspeciality and overseeing the launch of an inpatient detox program at the University of Toledo Medical Center in 2017.
Earlier this month, Singh was recognized for his work in recovery services as the alcohol and other drug professional of the year by the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County.
The award, presented during a May 1 banquet, honors outstanding professional service in the areas of addiction, prevention, treatment and recovery.
“It is nice to have the recognition from the award, but mostly I’m proud of what we’ve been able to build at UTMC,” Singh said. “It was hard to find treatment at that time, and we were the first multispecialty hospital-based detox unit in the area.”
Singh currently serves as medical director for recovery services and medical director of UToledo Health’s child and adolescent inpatient unit. He’s also service chief for the Department of Psychiatry.
In addition to UTMC’s 10-bed inpatient detox unit, UToledo Health also operates an intensive outpatient treatment program.
