Joining Forces Coalition combats rise in opioid deaths

Newsrooms across the commonwealth have spent years documenting the opioid crisis in their own communities. But now, in the special project State of Emergency: Searching for Solutions to Pennsylvania’s Opioids Crisis, we are marshalling resources to spotlight what Pennsylvanians are doing to try to reverse the soaring number of overdose deaths.

WITF is releasing more than 60 stories, videos and photos throughout July. This week, you will find stories about education, prevention and community support.

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The opioid epidemic escalated quickly in Lancaster County from 2015 to 2017.

In that time, the number of opioid-related deaths rose from 84 in 2015, to 117 in 2016 to a startling 165 last year.

By August of last year, concern was widespread enough that a group of community organizations, government agencies, businesses and health systems united to form the Lancaster County Joining Forces Coalition.

“Our objective is to strengthen the great work already happening throughout Lancaster County while identifying gaps in services and treatment so that we can save lives together,” said Alice Yoder, one of the group’s leaders and director of community health at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health.

Cautious optimism

Leaders at a recent public meeting, which the coalition holds on a quarterly basis, expressed cautious optimism after learning the number of overdose deaths decreased from 47 from January through March last year to 36 in the same period this year.

While the news was welcomed, they noted that experts generally predict the crisis will worsen before things start getting better.

“We’re hopeful that we are making progress since we started this all last summer,” Lancaster County Commissioner Joshua Parsons said.

The meeting illustrated the breadth of the efforts being made.

Presenters talked about the “warm handoff” program started at all county hospitals last year to offer patients who have overdosed help before they leave the hospital.

They talked about marked expansion in medication-assisted treatment offerings here.

“Opioids are not only not as safe as we thought, but not as effective,” said Dr. Christopher Echterling, medical director for vulnerable populations at WellSpan Health and part of the South Central PA Opioid Awareness Coalition. “We’re trying to do a lot of prescriber education.”

Dr. Tara Tawil of Lancaster General Hospital reported that requests for drug and alcohol counselors tripled to about 150 a month last year after hospital staff started asking patients whether they use substances they shouldn’t.

Providing resources

The coalition’s work isn’t just talking; it also has a website with resources for the public at lancasterjoiningforces.org.

Billboards directing people to the website and bearing the message “Serious addiction can start with a simple prescription” recently went up around the county as part of a broader awareness campaign.

And just before the meeting, the coalition released a 78-page strategic plan cataloguing existing efforts, identifying gaps and setting goals.

“We really encourage you to use it for grants,” Yoder told attendees.

The plan is geared for organizations, but has useful information for individuals too, including a list of community action groups, addresses of prescription drug take-backs, and a roll call of schools using evidence-based prevention programs.

There are also maps, lists and tallies of services in Lancaster County, including detox beds, long-term residential treatment facilities, support groups and medication-assisted treatment providers.