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Comprehend outlines crisis services, 988 hotline and planned buprenorphine clinic for Mason County
Summary
Comprehend CEO Melissa Greenwell briefed the Mason County Fiscal Court on mental-health and substance-use services the nonprofit provides, including a new locally run 988 hotline, mobile unit and a planned buprenorphine (Suboxone) clinic pending Medicaid credentialing for a hired APRN.
Melissa Greenwell, CEO of Comprehend, told the Mason County Fiscal Court that the nonprofit operates behavioral health, substance-use and developmental-disability programs across the Buffalo Trace Area Development District and is reintroducing its local services to the community.
Greenwell said Comprehend provides 24/7 crisis-team services, a locally operated 988 hotline, intensive outpatient substance-use programs and an Adult Day Training program for people with developmental disabilities. She said the agency operates about 65 programs districtwide and that the locally based crisis and hotline services improve referrals and connections to regional resources.
Greenwell also said Comprehend is preparing to open a buprenorphine clinic (medication commonly known by brand name Suboxone) at its Fourth Avenue location. "We received an opioid abatement grant through the state, to be able to open that clinic," Greenwell said. The clinic is ready to open once Medicaid credentialing for the agency’s APRN, Robin Keaton, is complete; Greenwell estimated credentialing could take about four to six weeks.
Greenwell said medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine can reduce overdose risk: "That medication reduces the risk of overdose by 50 percent." She told the court that University of Kentucky research connected to the HEAL study showed at least 200 Mason County residents were traveling outside the region for such medication treatment and that a local clinic could reduce barriers to access.
Why it matters: The switching of the 988 crisis line to a locally operated center and the planned buprenorphine clinic would increase local capacity for immediate crisis response and opioid-use disorder treatment, which Comprehend framed as a potential life-saving service.
Questions and operational details: Court members asked where the clinic would be located; Greenwell said it would be at the Fourth Avenue site in the former BTMA clinic building and that the APRN on staff is Robin Keaton. She said the main remaining barrier is Medicaid credentialing. Greenwell described Comprehend’s mobile unit — funded by a state grant — which includes telehealth capability and is being driven by trained peer-support specialists to reduce access barriers in outlying areas.
No formal court action was taken at the meeting on Comprehend’s programs or clinic opening; the presentation was informational and the court expressed support.
