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SKOWHEGAN — Redington-Fairview General Hospital and its partners, Somerset County Sheriff Office, Skowhegan Police Department, Kennebec Behavioral Health, Kennebec Valley Community Action Program and HealthReach Community Health Centers received a grant totaling $1,000,000 to address opioid use in Somerset County.
The grant is part of the Health Resources Service Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy that awarded $89 million to 89 rural organizations across 38 states as part of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program-Implementation program. These awards are part of a federal, broader focus on rural health and human service issues.
The money will help to improve and expand services for opiate use disorder in communities across Somerset County. Last year, Redington Fairview and its partners identified gaps in services and created pathways to low barrier treatment for people with Opiate Use Disorder living in Somerset County. With the grant, the plan is to interrupt and transform the current cycle in which people in Somerset County with Opiate Use Disorder are arrested, put in jail, released, and then re-arrested.
Additionally the grant activities will focus on increasing the ability to provide treatment, especially Medication Assisted Treatment for Opiate Use Disorder. Lastly, the grant will help the group build community level support for successful recovery from Opiate Use Disorder. The group will work with communities to apply a set of core prevention, treatment and recovery activities grounded in evidence-based or promising practice models and tailored to the communities’ needs.
