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MEET DR. JEN PLUMB
Dr. Plumb is a Utah native, born in Salt Lake City. She attended UCLA for her undergraduate training and went on to obtain her Master of Public Health and MD degrees at the University of Utah. After that, she went off to complete her medical residency training in Pediatrics at Rileys Children's Hospital/Indiana University and her Pediatric Emergency Medicine here at Primary Children's Hospital.
In addition to seeing patients in the pediatric ER, Dr. Plumb is very active in our community as an advocate for issues surrounding substance use, abuse, and prevention. In 1996, Dr. Plumb lost her younger brother Andy to a heroin overdose. Because of that Dr. Plumb has dedicated her life to fighting the opioid crisis, over 7,000 lives have been saved by everyday non-medical community members equipped with Naloxone (an opioid reversal drug). Dr. Plumb was vigilant in getting bipartisan support from the legislature to allow all individuals to carry Naloxone and has opened Andy's Utah Naloxone Clinic in downtown Salt Lake City. Dr. Plumb continues to educate and train physicians, medical groups, law enforcement agencies, government agencies, and community members all across the state on the use of Naloxone.
Dr. Plumb is also a proud mother to an amazing transgender daughter and an advocate for our transgender youth and community members. She has been squarely centered in guaranteeing that our transgender community members are protected against threats to their ability to receive quality lifesaving and affirming medical care and supported in all spaces to participate in all activities.
In her free time, she loves to spend time at the cabin in the mountains, fishing by the lake with her family and friends, or just being around her crew of senior rescue dogs.
Dr. Plumb's Message
MY PRIORITIES
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Mental Health, Substance Abuse
In 1996, we lost my brother, Andy, to a heroin overdose. In his memory, I worked to pass legislation making Naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug, available to every Utahn who wants it. As your Senator, I’ll keep fighting to protect the most vulnerable in our society.
Utah is scheduled to receive nearly $300 million in opioid litigation settlement funds in the coming years. This is an unprecedented opportunity to have impacts in the lives of those impacted in this realm. It is crucial that this money is spent responsibly and appropriately to ameliorate the harms of the opioid crisis. I am ready to lead the state in this effort.
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Transgender Rights
Transgender children, like my own daughter, and trans adults alike deserve dignity and equity under the law in our communities. I’ve already fought on Capitol Hill alongside organizations like Equality Utah against the Legislative Majority’s draconian anti-trans laws. In the legislature, I won’t stop fighting for my daughter, and for every transgender person.
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Housing Affordability
In SLC, we face a housing crisis like no other, and its ripple effects can be felt across the Wasatch Front, putting strains on our infrastructure, public transit, and on every Utahn’s wallet. When I’m your Senator, I’ll build bridges with my colleagues to build bridges for you, we’ll work to make public transit free so that everyone can get to work, and we’ll keep housing prices down while understanding that neighborhood character is important.
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Gender Equality
Five years running, Utah has been ranked the worst state in the nation for Women’s Equality. We must pass legislation to eliminate the gender pay gap, ratify the ERA, build on existing legislation to make childcare more affordable to help women who want to join the workforce, and do everything in our power to make quality education accessible, affordable, and equitable across the gender divide.
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Climate Change and Water Impacts in Utah
When the snow stops falling and the Great Salt Lake dries up, will we be proud of how we empowered big business to pollute our state? It’s imperative that we act now, sanctioning polluters, protecting our air, water, and watersheds through legislation, and improving our forest management to limit debilitating fires that threaten our homes and livelihoods.
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Healthcare and Public Health
We need to ensure that the policies that are being made at the Capitol are backed by data, science, and experience. As your next Senator, I will work to ensure our health care workers are supported and bolstered coming out of this very difficult time. It is also imperative that we increase access to health care services and that each Utahn has access to affordable medication. No one should have to go into debt in order to receive the health care they or their loved ones need to survive.
More than a list of issues, my focus is on getting things done. We can talk all day about what needs to be done but we deserve a legislator that works to pass bills and move the needle to improve our communities.
In The News
February 24, 2021
Transgender School Sports Bill Halted in Utah Senate
“I’m a mom of a trans kid,” she told state senators.
While talking to ABC4’s Jason Nguyen, Dr. Plumb says, “It is really important to me that our trans youth feel valued and that my child who is a trans youth feels valued, and welcomed in any space, and never feels excluded.”
February 14, 2022
Bill restricting transgender students in sports moves forward
Dr. Jennifer Plumb, a pediatrician and University of Utah professor, told lawmakers she is the parent of a transgender child. She said she recently talked with her child about this bill.
“She said, ‘Well, if the goal is to keep us out of the locker rooms and off the fields and off the courts, it’s working,” Plumb said.
She said it sounded like lawmakers were talking about transgender students as “problems” rather than “humans.”
“My child is not a problem. My child is a straight-A student,” Plumb said. “Let’s just remember, these are loved, beloved members of our society. Let’s protect them as we move forward in this space.”
November 18, 2018
Naloxone: The life-saving drug more Americans need
Jennifer Plumb, an emergency room pediatrician in Salt Lake City, says naloxone is a miracle drug.
Dr. Jennifer Plumb: "Understand, this stuff is really good at what it does. It has one job. Can't get high on it. Can't overdose on it. Can't relieve pain with it. You can just save a life with it. I mean, how amazing is that?"
Lesley Stahl: "Does it really bring people back from death?"
Dr. Jennifer Plumb: "It really does. And it is black and white. It is someone: "Hey, hey, hey, hey, talk to me, talk to me," no response, to up and alert and talking to you."
Lesley Stahl: "Come on."
Dr. Jennifer Plumb: "No, I'm serious. It is legitimately the most almost surreal thing. Because not much in medicine, not much in life does that."