News Connection: Bridging Rural Communities - RCORP-TA ...
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News Connection:
Bridging Rural Communities
In this newsletter you will have the opportunity to learn more about your fellow
grantees, HRSA Project Officers, JBS Technical Expert Leads, and the Best Practice
of the Month! For additional information on other grantees go to the RCORP-TA
Portal here.
Planning II Grantees
Oklahoma Foundation for Medical
Quality (OFMQ) has developed a
consortium to address opioid use
disorder (OUD) in a seven-county
rural area of western Oklahoma. The
Consortium for Lowering Opioid Use
Disorder (CLOUD-OK) has conducted
a thorough gap analysis and, from the
results, developed a strategic plan,
workforce plan, and sustainability
plan—all focused on improving
prevention, treatment, and recovery
efforts in the service area. The
CLOUD-OK consortium consists of 31
organizations covering a wide variety of settings, including state agencies, health systems,
hospitals, drug courts, and universities. Using collaborative partnerships and innovative
strategies, CLOUD-OK has developed a comprehensive implementation plan to increase
awareness, expand treatment and recovery options, and reduce stigma in the targeted
communities. Notable facts about the service area include the following:
• Four of the seven counties in the service area have the highest rates of opioid overdose
deaths in Oklahoma.
• There are no practicing buprenorphine providers in the service area.
• Travel to receive treatment and recovery services in the service area is up to 7 hours
round trip.
• The average poverty rate across the seven counties is 21.4 percent, almost double the
national average of 11.8 percent.
Positively Living, Inc. was established in 1996 to assist in the
care of people living with HIV and AIDS. Today, Positively
Living serves east Tennessee’s most vulnerable populations:
individuals and families struggling to survive the challenges
created by HIV, addiction, homelessness, mental illness, and
disabilities. Its mission is to provide compassionate care to
empower, promote, and inspire wellness by providing medical
care, advocacy, counseling, housing, and case management
services, and by addressing the individual needs of each client.
Positively Living/Choice Health Network’s Tennessee‒Central
Appalachian Opioid Response (T-CAOR) consortium aims to
reduce rates of HIV, hepatitis C, and overdose and increase
testing and treatment for people living in Tennessee’s Campbell, Cocke, Jefferson, and Scott
counties. The consortium is evaluating the needs of this four-county area and working to lay the
groundwork to move forward with harm reduction efforts. Consortium members have agreed
that they would like to implement a syringe services program in at least one of the four counties
within the next 5 years to improve the health of the community. Their areas of expertise are
listed below:
• Harm reduction
• HIV prevention and education
• Hepatitis C prevention and education
• Workforce
• Naloxone distribution
Jefferson County Behavioral Health
Consortium (BHC) project is a planning
effort that will work toward developing a
comprehensive plan for a crisis
stabilization center or another feasible
option to be located in Jefferson County,
Washington, for residents suffering from
opioid use disorder and behavioral
health-related issues. BHC’s mission is
to address opioid morbidity and mortality
in Jefferson County by serving as a
strong infrastructure for agencies to
identify methods; integrate mental health
and substance abuse services; lower
costs; create access to appropriate
services at the appropriate time; and implement evidenced-based, innovative approaches for
value-based health care.
Implementation Grantees
Kentucky Rural Health Information
Technology, Inc., dba Horizon Health:
Horizon Health is comprised of local
leaders, local providers, and local
employees who have all been directly
affected by the opioid epidemic and have
a passion for driving real and lasting
change in their communities. To drive
success, Horizon Health is implementing
a multitier approach that will confront the
opioid crisis and barriers to care head on
through public education/awareness campaigns and business initiatives to remove the deadly
stigma associated with treatment and recovery. It has designed a “campus” of care, rather than
a standalone clinic, to provide multiple services, both onsite and via telehealth, which reduces
transportation needs and creates a “home base” for clients. Onsite special services will include
case management, a state-licensed day care center, and a transitional/re-entry housing
program for select clients.
On the clinical side, Horizon Health’s comprehensive outpatient treatment facility, opened in
September 2019, has grown to over 100 clients and is in the process of hiring additional
providers to support continued growth. This clinical program offers diagnosis and individualized
treatment plans for every client to receive MAT as necessary in conjunction with mandatory
behavioral health counseling. In addition to individualized counseling sessions, clients are also
encouraged to attend group and other specialized counseling services.
Horizon Health is beginning to renovate a portion of its Laurel County facility to launch a
transitional/re-entry housing program, currently in development with the Kentucky Department of
Corrections Re-Entry Program. Those selected for this new program will be eligible to move into
an onsite transitional housing facility, where they will receive intensive counseling, educational
opportunities, financial management and vocational training, job placement resources,
transportation, and other services to assist with a seamless, successful reintegration into the
workforce.
Horizon Health will soon be a state-licensed childcare facility. Having this service available to
clients removes a significant barrier to treatment for parents who may not be able to attend
meetings due to childcare needs.
Garrett County: The strategies that
are included in the RCORP-
Implementation grant will prevent
opioid use disorder, provide and
supplement additional treatment
options, and offer the recovery
community resources and services
to prevent relapse and generational
use. Physical and economic
structures put in place will assist
with the overall health of the
treatment and recovery community.
Consortium partner Garrett College works with individuals in recovery to help them acquire
education, skills, training, and jobs. Consortium partner Maryland Legal Aid comes into the
community, at locations convenient for the client, to discuss legal matters so that employment is
possible. Consortium partner Pressley Ridge works with children and parents to break the cycle
of intergenerational abuse. Consortium partner Dove Center provides education about
childhood trauma to prevent adolescent and/or adult substance use disorders. The consortium
will also provide overdose response training to inmates and their families to prevent overdose
upon release from jail, which is an effective overdose prevention strategy. The consortium will
provide prevention, treatment, and recovery services for all residents in the entire county,
regardless of age, sex, race, and other characteristics.
MAT-Expansion Grantee
Jersey Community Hospital
(JCH) recruits, trains, and mentors
substance use disorder/opioid use
disorder (SUD/OUD)
interdisciplinary teams to provide
medication-assisted treatment
(MAT); build new clinic workflows
and supply chain services to
support the delivery of MAT and
other SUD, OUD, and mental
health services; optimize
reimbursement through proper
billing and coding to ensure sustainability; and coordinate medical and social services for
patients to achieve and sustain recovery. Jersey Community Hospital also works to strengthen
partnerships to better leverage other SUD/OUD and mental health community services, provide
community education to increase awareness of MAT and reduce stigma, serve as a resource for
community groups, assist patients in completing insurance applications and enrollment, and
maintain current caseload while increasing patient caseload through community outreach and
marketing. The target population is residents of Greene County and Jersey County, Illinois. Both
counties are among the top five in Illinois in 2017 for arrests related to drugs, drug
paraphernalia, hypodermic syringes and needles, and controlled substance abuse. Jersey
County also had the highest rate of fatal overdoses in Illinois in 2017.
Project Officer
Marcia Colburn, MSW: Ms. Colburn is a Public Health Analyst
in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy at the Health
Resources and Services Administration. Currently, she is the
Program Coordinator for the Rural Communities Opioid
Response Program (RCORP)-TA and a Project Officer for
RCORP Implementation grants. Previously, she was a Program
Coordinator for two pilot programs, the Rural Network Allied
Health Training Program, and the Rural Health Information
Technology Network Development Program. Ms. Colburn has
more than 20 years of experience in behavioral health, having
worked as a substance use disorder program administrator,
prevention counselor, outpatient treatment and methadone
maintenance counselor, coordinator of youth and family
services, and project director for federal grants.
Project Director for RCORP-TA
Lisa Patton, PhD: Dr. Patton has more than 20 years of
behavioral health experience. A clinical psychologist with a
specialty in trauma, she began her behavioral health career
as a therapist working in community mental health. Dr.
Patton has directed projects, conducted behavioral health
services research and evaluation, and provided technical
assistance and training on diverse topics, including disaster
preparation and response and the behavioral health needs
of older adults. Dr. Patton worked at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, first as a public health
policy analyst for the assistant secretary for planning and
evaluation. She served as the first branch chief for the
Quality, Evaluation, and Performance Branch in the Center
for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ) at the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), after which she
directed the work of the Division of Evaluation, Analysis, and Quality (DEAQ) in CBHSQ. Dr.
Patton guided teams of behavioral health services researchers in addressing the impact of
health care reform, policies, and reimbursement on serious mental illness, substance use
disorders, care trajectories, and the opioid crisis. She served as the quality lead for SAMHSA
and as the agency representative on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Dr. Patton
received her A.B. from Harvard University and her master’s and doctorate degrees from the
University of Maryland, College Park.
Best Practice of the Month
Each month we will feature an RCORP relevant best practice. Please email
msadauskas@jbsinternational.com with best practices you would like to see
highlighted!
This graphic shows statistics
that pertain to HIV infection
risk, prevention and testing
behaviors among persons who
inject drugs. Persons who use
drugs have a greater risk of
contracting HIV and lowering
the annual number of new HIV
infections is a major HIV
prevention goal. Access to
sterile syringes and HIV are
tied together, the graphic below
has information regarding
access to sterile syringes.
This graphic shows how access to sterile syringes varies across the United States and how syringe services programs (SSPs) are essential in access to safe syringes. There are multiples ways to distribute sterile syringes in your communities, including SSPs and pharmacies. For more information on SSPs click here!
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