CVMC lands 3-year, $1 million federal grant to address opioid crisis
December 18, 2020 | By Dr. Mark Depman and Eva Zaret
Central Vermont recently saw the award of a 3-year, $1 million Federal Rural Communities Opioid Response Programs grant to help support the work that Central Vermont Medical Center is doing in coordination with a key community coalition, the Washington County Substance Abuse Regional Partnership.
The implementation grant titled “Building Safe Harbor in Central Vermont” was awarded by the federal government's Health Resources & Services Administration after the coalition in 2019 completed a needs assessment regarding the opioid crisis in Washington County and developed a forward-looking strategic plan.
“Building Safe Harbor” means building a regional system of care (an “ecosystem” if you will) where people impacted by substance use disorders can reliably access support, services, and understanding from multiple points of entry. To those ends, the grant will focus on the following: bringing increased operational effectiveness to the coalition to meet the needs of our communities; upending stigma and misunderstanding that creates barriers to care and to caring in our communities; displacing factors that lead to the initiation of substance use, especially among youth and young adults; and increasing equitable and affordable access to harm reduction tools, treatment, and recovery programs throughout our rural service area.
This award recognized the story of Central Vermont Medical Center’s Emergency Department and an alliance of community partners who together started a movement from the bottom up seven years ago. Prior to that time, emergency room doctors and nurses were often at sea as to how to help those in need.
The regional coalition of partner organizations that developed has led to successful actions supporting hundreds of rural Central Vermonters and their families who live with substance use disorders, including opioids and alcohol. This grant will help us continue to build the ecosystem, one valuable strand in the fabric of our lives and shared communities.
As Project Director and Project Coordinator for the grant, we know our top priorities, and we invite all citizens in Central Vermont to join us over the next few months and years.
First and foremost, we want to find ways to reach out to every town and city during 2021 in order to understand the conditions on the ground for people, families, friends struggling with substance use disorders.
We want to help dispel any misunderstanding, stigma, or myths about these medical conditions and their treatments. In communities where services may be lacking, we want to work with our coalition members to close those gaps.
Due to COVID-19, early 2021 outreach will be less in-person than ideal, but with vaccines coming fast, we are optimistic that we will have opportunities to meet face-to-face with people in our communities in the latter half of 2021.
We want to make sure that everyone – old or young, parent, grandparent, friend – knows where to turn at any time, in any town or city, for help for themselves or a loved one. No wrong door, no wrong time. We want to build those pathways and saturate that awareness through our civic and municipal leaders, town organizations, law enforcement, EMS, landlords, business owners…whoever is in a position to connect someone to the lifesaving resources that our coalition partners, with years of experience, provide.
But most of all, support the compassion and caring behavior towards others that Vermonters do so well so that any one of us can help another cross through an open door.
We want, in 2021, to share that work with as many people as possible. Today, in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are beginning to see light on the horizon with continued safe practices and effective vaccines. We look forward to engaging all of you in conversations and productive work.
If you, or someone you know needs help call 802-371-4875 or visit cvmc.org/treatmenthelp. The phone line is answered by local addiction professionals who can provide accurate information and direct callers to the help they need. The opioid crisis is a community crisis. To effectively address this crisis, we need community help. Share this number and encourage those who need help to seek it.
Mark Depman, M.D., is an Emergency Medicine physician at Central Vermont Medical Center. Eva Zaret, MPH, is a public health specialist.