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 Hushabye transfers required medication when transferred at 24 hours; she contrasted a hospital NICU morphine rate she gave of 98 percent for infants hospitalized for withdrawal. Anderson said Hushabye’s per‑infant cost figure is about $11,659 versus roughly $76,385 for a NICU stay, and that about 99 percent of Hushabye families use AHCCCS (Arizona Medicaid).

Anderson described care coordination after discharge, including working with the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) to develop safe discharge plans, arranging pediatric follow‑up and referrals to early‑intervention and home‑visiting programs, and providing ongoing case management and peer support. She said Hushabye partners with the Arizona Department of Corrections to provide telehealth case management for pregnant people who are incarcerated and to plan for delivery and post‑delivery care.

During board questions Dr. Wynne asked whether medical supervision is present at the facility; Anderson said Hushabye has a pediatric medical director, a neonatal nurse practitioner who sees babies daily, two registered nurses on site at all times, and CARF accreditation. Board member Caroline Strecker asked about the source for the cost comparison; Anderson said the numbers come from the organization’s impact report and that she would confirm the data source and send the slide deck to the board.

WestCare representative Cheryl (last name not specified on the record) described a separate set of services funded by opioid settlement grants and other revenue. WestCare operates outpatient and residential treatment, recovery housing, peer supports and navigation services across Mohave County and neighboring areas; Cheryl said the agency accepts Medicaid and partners with multiple managed‑care organizations. She described residential beds for women and children, recovery housing that connects clients to aftercare services, and a navigation program that provides transportation and appointment coordination. Cheryl said WestCare used opioid funding to support a designated opioid counselor, a case manager and expanded client navigation; she also described a recent acquisition of a five‑bed home to keep mothers and children together during residential treatment, funded in part with county ARPA dollars.

Cheryl said quarterly testing and education for HIV/AIDS is provided in partnership with the county health department, and that WestCare offers crisis intervention, MAT linkage and housing navigation. She said post‑service surveys and electronic health records improved the agency’s ability to analyze long‑term outcomes and refine programming, and that new aftercare supports have increased the percentage of clients maintaining recovery after residential treatment.

The presenters responded to board questions about care for infants, DCS processes and program outcomes. No formal action was taken by the board on either presentation; both were informational items on the opioid settlement grant recipients agenda.

The presentations included discussion of how DCS investigates substance‑exposed births and possible dispositions (no DCS involvement, in‑home safety plans with a responsible adult, kinship placement, or foster care) and emphasized that removal is not automatic, but depends on investigation outcomes.

The board received the presentations and asked presenters to provide supporting documentation: Hushabye agreed to send the impact report source for cost figures and a PDF of the slide deck to the board.