Mohave County hears presentations from opioid-settlement grant recipients Hushabye Nursery and WestCare

Hushabye Nursery and WestCare gave the Mohave County Board of Health a joint briefing on opioid‑settlement grant–funded services, describing two distinct models for treating substance‑exposed infants and supporting adults in recovery.

Hushabye Nursery representative Shauna Anderson described a family‑centered model that brings parents and newborns together in a dedicated facility and uses the Eat, Sleep, Console approach to reduce use of opioid medications and shorten hospital stays. Anderson said Hushabye’s statewide program offers outpatient behavioral health services to pregnant and parenting people and an inpatient withdrawal unit for babies born exposed to opioids. "We truly believe that every baby deserves that chance for a healthy start," Anderson told the board.

Anderson said Hushabye’s average length of stay for infants born substance‑exposed was 9.3 days in 2024 (historical average over four years closer to 8.5 days), compared with an average NICU stay she cited of about 22 days. She said the average NICU stay typically results in medication treatment for nearly all infants hospitalized for withdrawal, while only 7.3 percent of…