Burke County panel advances plan for post‑overdose response team, naloxone distribution and peer navigator; four provider proposals to be refined

Burke County — The Burke County Opioid Advisory Committee voted on July business to advance a county‑led plan to establish a post‑overdose response team (PORT), expand naloxone distribution and hire a peer community navigator, and directed staff to work with four outside providers to refine proposals for possible funding.

The committee also heard operational updates, including that the county has received a naloxone “community health” vending machine funded by a Blue Cross Blue Shield grant and sited at Catawba Valley Healthcare.

The committee’s motion, carried by voice vote, authorized staff to develop implementation and contracting details for three county initiatives — a PORT with co‑responding community paramedics and peer specialists, a county‑led naloxone distribution program and a field‑based peer community navigator — and to prepare performance‑based contracts for consideration by the Burke County Board of Commissioners.

Why it matters: Committee members said the three county initiatives form a funnel from emergency response to longer‑term recovery services. The committee endorsed an initial, one‑year funding timeline with automatic extensions if stated performance benchmarks are met, and it asked staff to build measurable reporting into any contract.

County initiatives and targets

Katie (opioid response staff) presented the county‑led package and the draft performance indicators staff will use to judge success in a first year. The plan asks for approximately $880,000 in the first year…