By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Kimberly Osborne is the Director of the Addiction Medicine Service at UK/King’s Daughter’s – referred to as Wellness Recovery – in Ashland, and she shared some insights into the challenges our region faces in treating substance abuse disorder. The program is KORE funded through the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort, a program that “…aims to reduce overdose deaths by expanding and sustaining a comprehensive, equitable, recovery-oriented system of care,” according to the Team Kentucky Website.
“It’s a grant funded program,” Osborne explained. “King’s Daughter’s applied for and received it in 2019. And at that time, we were seeing a large number of overdose deaths in Boyd, Greenup, and Carter Counties. And really all across the Tristate. So, we thought this would be a great opportunity to combat some of that in our communities.”
“What we were seeing with the opioid epidemic was that patients were prescribed these drugs for chronic pain management, but the understanding was not that their body was going to become dependent on these drugs. But that is what happens with opioids over time,” Osborne noted. “So, we found ourselves in a situation when the opioid epidemic hit, doctors were no longer to prescribe large amounts of opioids to these patients.”
Unfortunately, patients at that point began to look for opioids elsewhere, beyond a doctor’s prescription, Osborne said. This, she said, is one reason the area became overrun with dangerous synthetic opioid drugs such as fentanyl. People were desperate to not feel the negative effects of opioid withdrawal and would unfortunately risk anything to not feel bad.
Those reasons were why King’s Daughters took the opportunity presented by the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort to develop a comprehensive response to what had truly become a pandemic.
“We offer both inpatient and outpatient treatment,” Osborne said. “We service patients inside the hospital who have a substance use disorder. That can be anything from opioids to alcohol or stimulants.”
“And we are a consult service, so we consult with them in their room. Then we collaborate with their attending provider to provide the best evidence-based practice for the treatment of their substance abuse disorder,” Osborne explained. “We also make referrals upon discharge if they want to follow up with treatment, whether that is inpatient or outpatient. Sometimes they want a simple phone call just to check up on them after their treatment.”
“In the outpatient setting we have a provider and counselors who provide comprehensive care for those patients who decide they want to come to our outpatient clinic. We provide evidence-based care, medications for opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder, and group therapy,” Osborne said.
“And one of the biggest components is peer support specialists. Those are people with lived experience,” Osborne explained. “They are amazing, and they are instrumental in our program. We are partnered with Pathways, and we have six peer support specialists through them that work within our program.”
Osborne said that a doctor’s referral for treatment is not necessary.
“Any patient who comes in through our Emergency Department that may be suffering from substance abuse disorder can receive a consult. And any patient in the outpatient department who would like to establish care can walk right in. We are open Monday through Friday. On Tuesdays we are open until 6:30 p.m. and on Fridays we are open until 2:30 p.m.,” she said. “And we have it set up so these patients can walk in and receive treatment the same day.”
Osborne said that for both inside the hospital and outpatient treatment they have comprehensive social work case management and community health workers. These workers help the patient apply for assistance to pay for their treatment. Osborne said with so much resource assistance, no one should hesitate to seek treatment simply because of lack of insurance or other funding. Through KORE they are even able to pay for some of the opioid treatment medication copays.
All treatment programs at KDMC operate under HIPPA Guidelines and are strictly confidential, Osborne said.
“There is also an extra umbrella for patients with substance use disorder and metal health disorders that protect their confidentiality. This is a program that can be privately done, just like all their healthcare. They can feel safe when they come to us,” Osborne said.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
