Oneida County Gets $500K Grant To Address Drug Overdoses

The Oneida County Health Department is one of only 13 public health agencies nationwide selected to receive a $500,000 federal grant to implement public health strategies to address drug overdoses.

The Implementing Overdose Prevention Strategies at the Local Level grant was awarded by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The funding will be used to advance several of the Oneida County’s Opioid Task Force initiatives to reduce overdose deaths.

“We are thankful to NACCHO and the CDC for awarding us with this funding that will primarily be used to expand the mobile street engagement project recently piloted in Oneida Square,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. “That project provided boots on the ground, on-demand access to substance use treatment medication and exceeded our expectations, with nearly 100 people started on buprenorphine treatment in just a few weeks. The positive outcomes of this innovative public health approach strengthened our application for this competitive award, as well as our resolve to use these resources to bring this on-demand treatment model to all areas of the county.”

During the time of the street outreach pilot project, Oneida County also partnered with ACR Health, REACH Medical and Upstate Family Health Center to make the same on-demand access to buprenorphine treatment available via telehealth and on-site providers through the establishment of a local satellite Drug User Health Hub site located at ACR Health in Utica.

The county will also work with its Opioid Task Force partners to expand and implement additional initiatives