Graham County accepts state opioid grant; board tables proposal to subcontract overdose fatality review

The Graham County Board of Supervisors on April 21 approved a State Opioid Response (SOR) scope-of-work agreement with the Arizona Department of Health Services to establish a local drug overdose fatality review team and accept $25,000 per year to support the work.

Emily Bridal, of the Graham County Health Department, told the board the review team would request medical records and other documentation for each death caused by a drug overdose to determine whether prior health-care contacts or other interventions might have prevented the death. "It is more of a prevention looking into the past historically and to seeing is there anything that we could have done here as a community to have helped that," Bridal said.

After approving the SOR scope of work, the board considered a second request to allow the health department to subcontract the grant agreement to the Greenlee-Graham Substance Abuse Coalition so the coalition would manage the required paperwork and administration. Bridal said county staff had been overwhelmed during the pandemic and the state initially ran the county's review team; the state is now encouraging local management. She said Kathy Grimes and the coalition had agreed in principle to oversee the review team and that health-department staff would sit on the reviews.

Vice Chairman Paul David said he supported an overdose fatality review but urged caution because the work involves "highly sensitive" records and interviews. He noted one related grant had recently been terminated and asked for more briefing before committing to a subcontract. "I'd really like to have a take — I suggest to my other Board members, I'd like to move that we table this and have a work session and not enter into an agreement right now without a little more briefing," David said. He moved to table the subcontract request for at least two weeks; that motion was seconded and approved.

The board’s action therefore splits into two results: it accepted the SOR grant scope-of-work agreement with ADHS and the $25,000 annual award, and it tabled — for further study and a work session — the health department’s request to subcontract administration of the review team to the Greenlee-Graham Substance Abuse Coalition.

The board did not disclose in the meeting any conditions or dollar changes tied to the subcontract; those details will be addressed in follow-up briefings if the board removes the tabled status.

Ending: The county health department will proceed under the state SOR agreement while the board requests additional information before approving any subcontracting to the local coalition.