He came from a loving family. In his late 20s he had a 10 year-old son, and the young man died from a drug overdose in the Town of Ontario. Days later in the Town of Walworth a 29 year-old man was arrested for Endangering the Welfare of a Child after overdosing in front of an 11 year-old girl.
Police in Geneva report finding a man slumped over on a toilet, dead.
“They’re everybody – kids from affluent families, people in their 60s, in their 20s, it’s all over the board,” said Wayne County Mental Health Director James (Jim) Haitz.
In 2017 there were six deaths in Wayne County due to opioid overdoses, 52 opioid overdoses reported at area emergency departments and 18 hospitalizations. Those are only the reported ones – and the rates are increasing for 2018.
In 2017 there were 441 unique clients admitted for any opioid addictions, including heroin in Wayne County. Naloxone, the drug used to temporarily resuscitate overdoses in drug addicts, was used 59 times by EMS responders, 20 times by responding law enforcement officers and 4 times by registered COOP (Community Opioid Overdose Prevention) specialists. These numbers do not include unreported, private use of Naloxone that can be purchased at any pharmacy, or obtained through various programs.
According to Haitz, the number of overdoses and deaths is on pace to increase in 2018. He recalls cases of high school students with sports injuries taking pain medications, getting hooked on opioids, then discovering the cheaper heroin high. Another case where it took six shots of narcon (Naloxone) to bring an overdosed kid back from the brink.
Haitz reminds people that “Nobody wakes up with the goal to become a heroin addict.” The problem is that the first ‘high’ is usually the ‘best’ high and drug users are always chasing drugs for the next ‘best’ high. With the introduction of fentanyl mixed to strengthen the high of heroin, the opioid crisis has brought the death rate even higher.
While at a conference in Albany last year, Haitz heard about a program that had been launched in the Dutchess, Erie County area. Described as a ‘Open Access Center”, these facilities went the extra mile to deal with the community opioid crisis sweeping the nation.
Jim said it was a “No Brainer” and immediately got the ball rolling for Wayne County the very next day, feeling his County Agency was in the perfect position to be the driving force for an Open Access Center and Mobile Opioid Response Team.
Start-up funding would be provided by the Federal government through the State. “They (OASAS-Office of Alcohol Substance Abuse Services) were really thrilled we were interested and stepping up to the plate,” Jim recalled. Soon, other communities joined in and the State required RFPs (Request For Proposals). They also decided to make the program more regional by breaking it into multi-county areas. Wayne County’s proposal would encompass a 9 county area serving Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wyoming, Yates, with Wayne as the pivotal Center.
The Wayne County Board of Supervisors quickly gave their approval and after the official submission, Jim’s plan was accepted.
All too often news stories tell about how a drug addict, or family either has to wait weeks, or months for services to ‘open up’, or find ways to pay for treatment. The Wayne County Open Access Center is in the position to find the solutions.
“Basically, the concept is to eliminate the long waiting periods. They (the drug addicts) could be seen and start in one day. Beds are a problem sometimes. One may not open for a week, but usually we find a bed somewhere. The real struggle is people do not know how to navigate the system,” Jim added.
A solid infrastructure with licensed providers, doctors, nurses and counselors was put in place. The goal was to provide immediate access service to individuals and families with a team of professionals to assess mental health, or addiction needs. The team determines the appropriate level of care for the individual and serves as the link for overdose prevention, detoxification, in-patient, out-patient, residential, or emergency treatment.
At the facility at 1519 Nye Road in Lyons, addicts and their families are currently serviced 7 days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. New hours are coming soon where the facility will be operating on a 24/7 basis.
The Center offers a safe place to be monitored, a shower, clothes, food and transportation.
According to Haitz, the only block to going 24/7 is hiring enough people to fill the late night slots. Currently, the program has created about 15 new positions at the Agency, funded through the start-up grants, will eventually be financed through insurance billings.
For those in immediate crisis the Mobile Opioid Response Team, currently consisting of licensed workers, will respond to homes, businesses, hospitals emergency rooms, police stations, wherever to provide support and care to those in need of urgent assistance within Wayne County.
Police agencies have been extremely cooperative with the concept. “We are not going to arrest our way out of this,” stated Haitz.
Currently the County program is using ordinary vehicles on these response teams. Two large conversion vans, fully, paid for with State OASAS funding, are expected to arrive in March or April 2019.
They will be equipped with an interviewing station including bench seating and table, and a restroom facility in order to obtain body fluid specimen collection for laboratory analysis. There is also refrigeration for medication while they are out on the road in the community.
The new units will have video telehealth, remote video/audio connectivity to other professional staff back at the main clinic on Nye Road. They will have the ability to connect with other staff at other locations, making a referral to another treatment facility.
“These mobile clinics will be able to meet individuals with a heroin/opioid addiction at any location and we also plan to have regular scheduled times that people can go to and “drop-in” to speak with a counselor and get help right away. The goal is to provide immediate access to treatment and services and remove barriers to access. The mobile clinics will also allow us to bring medical staff into the field and deliver medication assisted treatment for opioid addiction, on site in the community. Medication such as Suboxone and/or Vivitrol are most often used to treat heroin and other opioid addiction,”commented the Director.
The Center is available for alcohol, or any mental health issues as well – something the State agreed to and supported under the Wayne County proposal.
So, how is the program working since its inception?
“Great! We are busy. We have roughly served about 200 people. We are in the process of adding tele-health at the Center for connecting to doctors and patients with home computers equipped with cameras anywhere,” Jim replied.
Currently, the Wayne County Open Access Center is one of 12 regional centers operating throughout the State.
Experts suggest the recent opioid explosion problem may be leveling off, but Haitz commented that if this is true, there is a long period of time on the down trend.