Tag Archive for: #opioidepidemic

Granville Residents Asked To Weigh In On Ways To Combat Opioid Crisis

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The Granville County Opioid Advisory Committee wants to hear from county residents to help determine strategies to combat the opioid crisis locally.

As a participant in litigation against large manufacturers and distributors of opioids, Granville County is getting funding from the multi-billion dollar settlement agreement.

“Please take a few minutes to fill out this short survey that will help us fight the opioid epidemic here in Granville County,” said County Commissioner Jimmy Gooch, who chairs the advisory committee. “As a county government, we have an obligation to utilize these funds to help as many of our residents as possible while also being careful stewards of the funds we receive. Gaining a better understanding of how our community would like the county to prioritize our spending is a critical first step to improving how the opioid crisis is addressed in Granville County. This epidemic has affected so many people right here in our community and we are committed to helping those who have been, or will be, affected by this issue.”

The Opioid Advisory Committee was established in 2018 by the Granville County Board of Commissioners to engage in shared leadership and collective action to advance a comprehensive response to opioid and other drug use, according to a press statement issued by Public Information Officer Terry Hobgood. The committee includes representatives and stakeholders from within Granville County government as well as the Granville-Vance Public Health Department, Granville Health System, Vaya Health, law enforcement,  local pharmacy owners, behavioral health professionals, affected families, and other concerned citizens.

As a recipient of the National Opioid Settlement funds, Granville County signed onto the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which specifies specific strategies and allowed uses for the funds. These strategies have been tested and proven to help treat and prevent opioid addiction. Until public input is gathered via a survey, public meetings and other strategic planning steps that involve Granville County residents, healthcare providers and other stakeholders, the county is prohibited from using any of the settlement funding.

Take the short online survey here: www.granvillecounty.org/opioidsurvey. For more information about the National Opioid Settlements, visit the “More Powerful NC” website:

Cardinal Innovations Healthcare

Narcan Kits Distributed in Vance Co. to Help Battle Opioid Crisis

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By: Kelly Bondurant, Freelance Writer/Editor for Hire

Earlier this week, community members and leaders gathered at the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library in Henderson for a Town Hall meeting and to assemble Narcan kits, the treatment used to counteract a life-threatening opioid overdose.

A total of 700 kits, including a dose of the Narcan intranasal spray, were distributed to first responders, health departments, schools and interested community members in Vance and surrounding counties.

According to Elliot Clark, senior community executive with Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, the organization is “helping to distribute Narcan kits and get people resources to be able to literally help save lives and encourage people to enter into treatment for opioid dependence.”

Narcan, the only FDA-approved nasal form of naloxone, has been used to combat opioid overdoses, such as from heroin, for decades; however, it was previously available primarily through first responders. With the recent opioid crisis that has swept the nation, and proven especially hard-hitting in Vance County, the availability of the spray is becoming more wide-spread.

“Plenty of law enforcement agents are now carrying Narcan kits in their patrol cars,” said Clark. “They no longer have to wait for EMS to arrive in order to save a life.”

In addition to widely-distributing Narcan to prevent death from an opioid overdose, the local community is also ramping up efforts to promote prevention.

“It’s a community effort – not just one organization, not just first responders, or behavioral health professionals or schools; it’s all of us,” Clark said. “Education and awareness need to be at the forefront.”

According to Clark, County government is taking a very active role in addressing the health crisis. Multiple agencies have previously held, and continue to hold, community forums to discuss the crisis and educate the local area.

Initiatives such as Granville-Vance Public Health’s Project VIBRANT are focused on the opioid epidemic, specifically around the administration of Narcan. The Stepping Up Initiative that involves local law enforcement agents is also addressing the crisis.

“Prevention is hugely important and traditional methods of prevention need to revisited,” said Clark. “We need to start looking at prevention as a holistic health model and make it part of a conversation where even kids are comfortable talking about their mental health and how they are feeling.”

Cardinal Innovations is available by phone 24/7 for crisis support and treatment options. Those facing a crisis situation may call 1-800-939-5911 to speak with a licensed clinician.

(Cardinal Innovations Healthcare is an advertising client of WIZS Radio.)