Hamilton County launches in-home overdose-prevention pilot using opioid settlement funds

Hamilton County officials presented a new EMS-based overdose-prevention pilot on March 25 that will send a paramedic and a peer-support specialist into homes to provide short-term medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and connect residents to community recovery services.

Christy Cooper, who introduced the program to the commission, said the mission is “to reduce overdose deaths and chronic substance use disorder in Hamilton County by providing medication-assisted treatment in the home to any willing participant at no cost with personalized connections to local resources for recovery.” She described the pilot as the first program of its kind approved to run in Tennessee and said the county’s medical director, Dr. Ron Bucheit, drafted the clinical protocols and secured state approval to pilot the service.

Under the pilot, referred participants will receive a 5-to-7-day bridge of MAT (typically buprenorphine/Suboxone plus naloxone) delivered under paramedic supervision and accompanied by a peer-support specialist; a health-department navigator will work with participants to connect them to longer-term community supports and address housing, transportation, childcare, and other barriers. Cooper said visits will be discreet and conducted in unmarked vehicles rather than ambulances to protect confidentiality.

Referrals can come from post-overdose EMS calls, hospital emergency departments, interagency partners such as Helen Ross McNabb and Launchpad, or by voluntary self-referral. Cooper said outreach staff will return daily during the bridge period to dose medication, assess withdrawal, and maintain contact while the health-department navigator arranges follow-up care. The county is hiring the paramedics, peer-support specialists and a health-department navigator; Cooper said job postings went live the Monday before the meeting.

Commissioners asked about funding and scale. A county representative said the program’s funds stem from opioid settlement allocations governed by the State of Tennessee’s Opioid Abatement Council. Mayor Jipp told commissioners that roughly “just short of a million dollars” was budgeted for the program in the current fiscal year for staffing and capital, that the county had already approved purchase of two vehicles for the team, and that long-term planning anticipates opioid funds could support the program for about a decade. County staff cautioned settlement distributions vary by terms and timing.

Dr. Bucheit and public-health partners, including the Hamilton County Health Department and area providers, were present; officials said a press conference and further public rollout were scheduled for 2 p.m. that day. Commissioners expressed broad support and asked for further details on capacity, staffing levels, funding streams and operational metrics; several asked to meet for follow-up briefings and to receive more detailed funding and capacity information.

No formal commission vote was required during the presentation; the county described this as a program already included in the previous year’s budget and now moving to staffing and operational launch.