Olathe wants to use some of its opioid settlement funds to support behavioral health and substance abuse treatment efforts through the Olathe Fire Department’s Mobile Integrated Health unit.
Earlier this week, the Olathe City Council unanimously approved a four-year contract with Health Partnership Clinic in Olathe to continue staffing the unit with one nurse practitioner. The item was approved as part of the consent agenda, which means it was taken up for a vote without discussion.
That agreement also made room for Olathe to potentially expand its unit with additional contracted staff positions, and opened up the possibility of using some of the opioid settlement funds to help finance a push to offer more substance abuse treatment.
Where are the opioid funds coming from?
- Kansas communities are expected to receive millions of dollars over the next 20 or so years from the legal settlements with pharmaceutical retailers and other firms related to the opioid epidemic.
- The funds are intended to address substance abuse, primarily through treatment services and prevention efforts.
- Plus, the state has kept a large percentage of the funds distributed to Kansas to be doled out as additional grants.
What is Olathe’s Mobile Integrated Health unit?
The Olathe Fire Department started the Mobile Integrated Health unit about a decade ago, aimed at providing medical care to people who do not have access to healthcare for any number of reasons.
Today, a MIH team is made up of one bilingual nurse practitioner and a firefighter/paramedic. The team works out of an ambulance-style vehicle.
The idea, according to city documents, was to decrease the number of non-emergency 911 calls that come in for health issues that might be typically dealt with in a primary care office or with other medical specialists. The unit also helps connect patients to resources and can often help meet their needs without a “lights and sirens” response.
More recently, Olathe has made plans to start growing the unit, including adding more staff and a full additional nurse practitioner and firefighter/paramedic team to staff a second ambulance-like vehicle.
How can opioid funds support that effort?
- Olathe plans to use some of the opioid settlement funds to help address “substance abuse” and “overdose issues” in the community.
- Per the new agreement, the city intends to partner with the Health Partnership Clinic to add a licensed addiction counselor position within the MIH unit.
- Olathe will put up to $128,000 toward the counselor position in the first year, including personnel costs, recruitment costs and technology purchases.
- Additionally, the agreement says, Olathe hopes to hire a Community Health Worker focused on substance abuse issues in the community.
Keep reading: How Overland Park plans to spend some of its opioid settlement funds
