Marin County is taking a community health approach to the opioid epidemic. Through a comprehensive strategy led by county officials Jeffrey DeVido, Marin County’s chief of addiction services, Matt Willis, MD, Marin County public health officer, and D.J. Pierce, Marin County AOD Director, Marin County has created a continuum of care to support individuals across the county regardless of location. Underlying Marin’s strategy is a focus on improving access to care when patients are ready. Research from NIH and the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows the largest barrier to patients getting drug treatment is time to appointment. By creating a safety net, Drug overdose patients taken to emergency rooms at Marin General Hospital and Novato Community Hospital will also be able to get access to drugs for opioid treatment. Emergency Departments will utilize the services of Bright Heart Health, a telemedicine service based in San Ramon, to connect hospital patients to doctors who can prescribe the medicines. “Bright Heart will either initiate treatments or set up appointments for patients to be seen locally,” DeVido said. “This means we can put treatment practically anywhere.” Reaching patients in the emergency room is vital since patients are confronted with the risk of opioid usage and have high motivation to change. “The people who are at most risk of death are the people who are rescued by paramedics and brought to the emergency room because they overdosed,” Brian Slattery, Executive Director of Marin Treatment Center said. “They are the most likely to overdose again and die.”
“This means we can put treatment practically anywhere.”Dr. Devido, Marin County Chief of Addiction Services
Marin County is also focused on treatment access through EMS, police, homeless services, and other community resources interacting with public and potential individuals abusing opioids.
Bright Heart Health’s goal is to have access available on every corner, through every service, and in every building. Treatment on-demand removes all barriers, and ensures everyone has access.
When we remove all barriers and make getting treatment easier and cheaper than getting opioids or going to a dealer, then we will have a successful strategy for addressing the opioid epidemic.