Premier Health Receives Nearly $2 Million Grant to Fight Substance Abuse

Premier Health, in partnership with ProMedica, received a nearly $2 million grant from the Ohio Department of Health to treat emergency department patients struggling with substance abuse and connect them with the help they need.

This funding, part of the Comprehensive Care for Substance Use in Ohio Emergency Departments (CCOED) program, will enhance and expand the extensive work currently being done at Miami Valley Hospital, Miami Valley Hospital North, Atrium Medical Center, as well as three ProMedica sites.

CCOED has three overarching goals:

• Identify patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) by implementing a screening process in EDs;
• Manage OUD by implementing evidence-based practices in emergency medicine;
• Transition patients to long-term care and supportive services using innovative processes that improve pathways to treatment. These goals will be met through comprehensive activities structured around screening, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), naloxone distribution, linkages to care, and a real-time treatment finder.

Emergency departments serve a wide variety of patients, including those who are experiencing health disparities and health inequities, as well as those who are uninsured and/or without access to primary care. The CCOED program will help emergency departments’ efforts to identify anyone who may need to be connected to substance abuse services.

Premier Health will continue to strengthen its collaboration with local organizations such as Samaritan Behavioral Health for diagnosing abuse and crisis response, and OneFifteen for both inpatient and outpatient treatment options.

For more information on this grant, please contact Candy Skidmore, RN, CHEP, system vice president of emergency and trauma service lines, CareFlight Air and Mobile, EMS Center and Excellence, and Regional Referral Center, at (937) 499-8301 or ceskidmore@premierhealth.com.

Back to the July 2021 issue of Premier Pulse