Download Creating a Community Response to Drug Abuse

Community Response to Heroin
and Opiate Usage in Northern
Rice County
Minnesota Rural Health Conference
June 28th and 29th 2010
Presented By
Kathleen Meier
Andrew Yurek
Northfield Hospital and Clinics
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37 licensed bed hospital
40 bed Long Term Care Center
4 FamilyHealth Medical Clinics
1 Women’s Health Center
2 Center for Sport Medicine and Rehabilitation
1 Orthopedic Fracture Clinic
1 Ophthalmology Clinic
Ambulance Service
Overview
 Background
 Historical Information
 Grant Application
 Goals
 Outcomes
Background
 From 2006 - 2008 there were 7 deaths attributed to opiate
overdose in Rice County
 Twice the rate of Hennepin County
 Law enforcement estimate of 250 young adults are abusing
heroin and other opiates
 6.1% of persons seeking treatment in Rice County claim
heroin as their drug of choice compared to 3.5 statewide
Historical Information
 Rice County Chemical Health Coalition Provider
Team
 Healthy Community Initiative
 Mayor’s Task Force on Drug and Alcohol
 Local law enforcement drug task force
Historical Information
Survey of High School Students
 27% of students report that it is easy to obtain
prescription medications not prescribed to them
 5% of student report they have taken medications
prescribed to another
Issues
 No local provider trained for the treatment of
opioid/opiate addiction
 Persons seeking treatment must travel to the Twin
Cities (46 miles). In a community of individuals with
reduced income this is difficult
 Poor community understanding of opiate addiction
 No safe disposal options for prescription medications
MN Rural Hospital Flex Grant
Application
 February 2009 we became aware of the grant
 Gained Administrative approval to further
collaborate with those Rice County planners
 Meetings scheduled and the grant application
completed and submitted
MN Rural Hospital Flex Grant
Application
 Received the 2009 Rural Flex Grant
 Increase meeting frequency with those already
responding
 Use our electronic medical record to obtain monthly
data on persons seeking medical care while
receiving treatment for opiate/opioid treatment with
buprenorphine
MN Rural Hospital Flex Grant
Application
 Use of the electronic patient care report generated
from EMS to track narcan administration
 Duplication of the Isanti County medication
collection by law enforcement
Goals
 Hospital provided MD expert in opioid treatment in its Out
Patient Clinic (not grant related)
 Community Education
 Medical Community Education on treatment of
Opiate/Opioid addiction with Buprenorphine
 Provide a means of safe disposal for prescription
medications as most heroin addiction begins with miss use
of prescription medication
Goals
 Promote regionalization of medical treatment to
allow for persons seeking/receiving care to obtain
it locally
 Policy development for medical staff that treat
pain in persons during the recovery process
 Train EMS personnel on the treatment of pain of
those persons in opioid agonist treatment
Goals
 Public Access Television educational segment on
heroin/opiate use in the community
 Conversations with pharmacists in Rice County
addressing medication misuse issues
 Finally to make our response available for duplication
in other areas being impacted by heroin and opiate
abuse
Outcome
Trainings offered to the community
(number = attendees)
 High School and middle School Staff 230+
 High and middle School Students1000+
 Community Forums 550+
 Quote from a forum speaker
Outcomes
 Physician training offered at two locations in Rice County
 Northfield medical community including Northfield
Hospital, District One Hospital, Allina Clinics of
Northfield, Faribault,and Farmington, Cannon Valley
Clinic, and the FamilyHealth Medical Clinics of
Lonsdale, Lakeville, Farmington, and Northfield.
 District One Hospital
Outcome
Trainings offered to Northfield Hospital staff
 Pain management protocols developed and implemented
 Electronic and instructor present trainings on Chronic and
Acute pain treatment for
 Ambulance
 Emergency Department
 Surgery
 Medical/Surgical
 Clinic
Outcome
Address Prescription Drug Diversion from home
medicine cabinets
 Coordination of multiple groups around the collection of
medications from the community
 Financed the construction and installation of 2 medication
receiving boxes one for Northfield Police and one for
Faribault Police stations
 Had an article of this effort published in the MHD Rural
Health Spring 2010 Quarterly
 http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/orhpc/pubs/quarterly/2010/spring.html
Outcomes
 Meetings were conducted with pharmacists in
Rice County
 Information provided on the grant work
 Pharmacists provided input regarding suggestions
related to medication misuse
Opiate Agonist Treatment
 Available at Northfield Hospital as an outpatient
clinic utilizing an addiction specialist from
Hennepin Faculty Associates (not part of our grant)
Outcome
 Local television production
Take It to the Box
 Community education campaign
 Project initiation Sept 17th 2009
 300 pounds of medication in the first month
 The oldest from 1957
 1850 pounds collected to date
 Use of the grant to pay for a contracted company to sort and haul the
collected medication for appropriate disposal
 Over 70 pounds of controlled substances
 Take It To The Box program presentation to other counties and
municipalities
 Municipalities Invited to an informational meeting
Join us for a Medication Disposal Information Meeting
Disposal of unneeded medication is a growing community
concern affecting health, law enforcement, drug abuse prevention, and
environmental safety.
Rice County’s Take It To The Box medication disposal program was
successfully launched last fall and has received a tremendous, positive
response from our community. We invite you, and others who are
interested, to an information exchange meeting to share what we, and
others, have learned in a step-by-step, who/what/where/why type of a
format.
Medication Disposal Information Meeting
• Open exchange of experience, information, and questions
• Copies of articles, communication plans, costs/funding,
resources, data, process steps, and more.
• Optional tour of drop-off site to see drop box, storage
containers, and medication storage and processing area.
When: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Safe Use • Safe Storage • Safe Disposal Take It To THE
BOX Rx Rice County MEDICATION Safety Program
www.ricecountychc.com • 507-664-3524 • 507-210-5151
(30 + municipality/county representatives attended)
Going Forward
 Flex Grant Final Report to MDH
 Present at the MN Rural Health Conference in June
 http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/orhpc/conf/2010/presentations.html
 Continue to monitor numbers of patients entering our care
using the EMR
 Expand Opioid Agonist Therapy through Outpatient Clinic
 Continue collaboration
 Take It To The Box