County signs MOU to install public naloxone access station at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center

The St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners on July 15 approved a memorandum of understanding with Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center to install and operate a public-access naloxone (Narcan) cabinet on the hospital campus.

Renata Williams, director of the county Department of Health, told commissioners the agreement was reviewed and approved by the department's counsel and that the initiative is funded by two separate grants. One grant from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) provides funding to purchase the cabinets; the county Department of Health will supply Narcan doses from a separate grant. Williams said the county already has a successful public-access box installed at Memorial Hospital and that the new MOU would complete a goal to have cabinets at both local health systems, in addition to 22 smaller boxes at community partner sites.

Commissioners approved the MOU by unanimous voice vote. The department said it would coordinate placement and operation with Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center and that the initiative is intended to expand access to life-saving opioid overdose treatment in public locations. The MOU had been reviewed by the Department of Health counsel and is grant-funded; no county-general-fund appropriation was described during the meeting.

Commissioners and staff emphasized the urgency of addressing overdoses in the community and thanked the health department for arranging the program. The MOU was described as one step in an ongoing, grant-supported public-health effort to expand Narcan availability across county facilities and partner locations.