2019-2020 Rural Community Opioid Response Planning Grant

This grant is $200,000 for one year. Our goals are in line with the stated purpose of the RCOPR-Planning program and include: 1) Strengthen the capacity of the community and the Purchase Area Health Connections Network to broadly address the opioid epidemic by identifying existing and needed evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery programming outlined in a Community Action Plan; and 2) Develop a regional plan that addresses service and workforce gaps in substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Community and Population Served: The communities served include Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall, and McCracken Counties. Covering more than 2,124 square miles, the counties have high rates of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Each of these counties depend on the largest county, McCracken, for regional healthcare services as well being the location of lead applicant. Five of the eight counties have no inpatient substance abuse treatment services available, and four have no out-patient or medication-assisted treatment (MAT) services available. Parts or all of the eight counties in our Network are HPSA (primary care and mental health) and MUA communities.

Community Needs: The Purchase District has a high rate of drug arrests and drug overdose deaths that are substantially higher than the National average; as much as 2.5 times higher in some of our counties. Data from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy indicates the Purchase District Region has a higher than average rate of patients with opioid prescriptions with most counties having 261 to 310 prescriptions per 1,000 population.

Expected Impact: With the support of the planning grant, the Network will establish a new strategic plan, expand the network by 12 new organizations, create a Community Action Plan, and develop a toolkit with focused messaging, that will allow the network to develop best practices for addressing the opioid epidemic in our region. We will also focus on workforce development by convening institutions of higher education and the workforce development boards, challenging them to identify the training and development needs of both existing and new personnel that enables individuals in the field to implement evidence-based and best practices, while also developing “home-grown” talent.