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Flathead County signs health contracts to continue food inspections, naloxone distribution and crisis-diversion funding
Summary
County commissioners approved four health-department contracts including an environmental health licensing agreement, a naloxone distribution provider agreement, a state crisis-diversion task order and a subcontract to help reopen the Glacier House stabilization facility.
Flathead County commissioners on Jan. 7 approved four contracts the Flathead City-County Health Department said will support food safety inspections, opioid overdose prevention and local crisis-diversion services.
The board signed a DPHHS environmental health and food safety licensing contract that the health department said lets it recover some inspection costs while DPHHS retains responsibility for some plan reviews. "If signed, this agreement allows us to recoup some of the costs for our inspections, for the food side of our house," said Jim Wardensky of the Flathead City-County Health Department.
The board also approved a Montana Public Health Institute Regional State Opioid Education and Naloxone Distribution Program provider agreement that continues quarter-based gap funding while the department awaits a DPHHS contract. Mandy Fleming of the health department said last quarter the program trained 290 people from 17 organizations to administer naloxone, distributed 556 doses and provided training to produce navigators who connect people to treatment and recovery services. Fleming said responders and program participants report naloxone use in the OD map and that the county has seen a 13% increase in reported naloxone use and an associated 7% decrease in opioid-related 911 calls during the pilot period.
Separately, commissioners approved a three-year DPHHS crisis diversion task order intended to expand mobile crisis response, fund a crisis coordinator position and support crisis facilities. The master task order lists a total state grant amount cited in board discussion as $999,493.28; roughly half of those funds were described as coming from the state general and special revenue funds with the remainder identified by staff as behavioral health systems funding. The board voted to accept the task order for the health department.
The board then approved a subcontract under that master contract to Western Montana Mental Health Center that sets aside an initial $100,000 in start-up funding, to be matched by the provider, to reopen the Glacier House stabilization facility. Health department staff said the subcontract requires those startup funds be used only for reopening-related costs — renovations, hiring and training — and that invoices for approved projects must be submitted for reimbursement. The subcontract requires the initial funds be accessed by the end of the current fiscal year, as stated in the subcontract.
All four motions carried on voice votes during the meeting. Commissioners asked for follow-up reporting on naloxone use and overdose trends; Fleming agreed to provide an annual summary to the board if meaningful data are available.
The contracts and the subcontract are intended to keep ongoing inspection capacity, maintain opioid education and naloxone distribution while state contracting is finalized, and to seed reopening of a local crisis stabilization facility through a time-limited, reimbursable startup grant.
The board recessed after the agenda items and moved on to other business.
