BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
At the Oct. 7 meeting of the Bradford County Commission, Lt. David Weeks of Bradford County Fire Rescue presented an in-depth overview of the county’s opportunity to participate in the Coordinated Opioid Recovery (CORE) program
CORE is a state-funded initiative aimed at combating substance use disorder through innovative, integrated care.
Weeks explained that the CORE funding, recently made available to Bradford, will support Community Paramedicine’s ongoing mission to provide a seamless continuum of care for individuals struggling with substance abuse. CORE brings together first responders, treatment facilities and hospitals to ensure patients receive life-saving care, specialized stabilization and support for sustainable recovery.
“They bring them together to have a conversation. They look at how can we get the best bang for our buck for these patients,” he said.
Paramedicine identifies patients through 911 calls, patient self-referral, or referrals from law enforcement and family members. Oftentimes, Weeks said, they get involved providing life-saving response, such as during an overdose. The Paramedicine program follows up with referrals in the hospital and at home. They assess the patient’s needs and connect them to short- or long-term care. They also connect them to resources for help with food or utility assistance, transportation, finding a primary care physician and mental health care, and covering medical costs.
“I think something that really makes our program stand out is we’ve been able to provide all of this secondary support, whether helping them find adequate housing, transportation, the doctor’s appointments, getting their prescriptions,” Weeks said.
Substance abuse patients are referred to Meridian where they meet with a specialist to determine the need for medication-assisted treatment. The Community Paramedicine team now offers 24/7 access to medication-assisted treatment, including the administration of Suboxone in the field.
Once the patient’s treatment is established and they receive a prescription, it will be up to them to take the medication as prescribed. But the Paramedicine program will continue following up, even delivering prescriptions to those who cannot get to the pharmacy. The paramedics also keep tabs on how patients are managing chronic disease or other secondary issues that arise from drug abuse and complicate recovery.
“I still have patients that we’ve had from months ago that still call me in the morning and do a morning check in, and that’s proven to be really successful with keeping them on track,” Weeks said.
The CORE initiative is supported by a substantial grant, with $700,000 awarded to Bradford County and its partners in the first year, followed by guaranteed funding (in diminishing amounts) for up to 18 years. The funding will cover the addition of a new CORE coordinator position, equipment, and operational costs, ensuring the program’s sustainability without burdening local taxpayers, Weeks said.
The assistance is welcome. Weeks finds himself triaging cases, first caring for those with the highest needs, because the number of referrals is so high.
“This is just going to open up how many patients we can see. I can tell you, within about the past month and a half, I’ve received 30 referrals,” he said. “I’m one person. 30 referrals is a lot of patients to go through, and it’s just not possible.”
As for the number receiving medication-assisted treatment from the Paramedicine team, there have been five from Aug. 1 to Sept. 15.
“You might think that’s not a lot, but you have to remember these are five patients who received this resource that wasn’t available six months ago, and this is a life-saving resource in a lot of situations,” Weeks said. Of the five, three continued treatment while the other two failed to attend their Meridian appointment. While they won’t have a 100% success rate, he said those who continued are doing well, checking in with him daily.
Of those three, Weeks said one is a 34-year-old mother who lives in Bradford and was referred by Alachua County when she reached out for help there. After being in rehab and relapsing multiple times, she was tired of fighting the disease. She has been successful avoiding relapse with the help of her prescription and is even encouraging her sister to seek treatment.
“Her sister also is a chronic drug user, and that kind of shows that this problem is very generational. It affects entire families, not just one patient at a time,” Weeks said.
Commissioners supported the program’s potential to further address the opioid crisis and unanimously approved participation in the state-funded initiative.
“This is a very important, significant program for Bradford County,” said Commissioner Carolyn Spooner, following up with questions about jail intervention and working with law enforcement on mental health calls, both of which are being addressed.
Because the Community Paramedicine Program was entered with the goal of reducing repeat transports to the emergency room by helping patients deal with their chronic health problems, Commissioner Diane Andrews asked if they were tracking any reduction. Weeks said those statistics are all being kept in compliance with a separate grant. The data will be used to track progress.
Commissioner Chris Dougherty, who works on opioid abatement as part of a statewide council, said its members are working on ensuring the state’s ongoing financial commitment to helping communities battle the drug epidemic.
