State-backed mobile opioid treatment program seeks to serve Lawrence County

Joshua Thacker, outreach coordinator for Anchor Addiction and Wellness Center and Chill Coffee, told Lawrence County commissioners on Oct. 28 that the organization has two state-backed mobile opioid treatment units and is seeking to place one in the county.

"Lawrence County had 27 provisional overdose deaths just last year," Thacker said, citing provisional data he obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said the units were funded through grants backed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and that Anchor Addiction has completed two mobile units as part of that award.

Thacker and Jody Wilson, the center's clinical director, described the units as physician-supervised, 47-foot mobile clinics that would offer medication-assisted treatment (including buprenorphine and related medications), telehealth addiction counseling, on-site case management and crisis intervention. Thacker said the program would operate under standards set by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ohio Board of Pharmacy and would follow guidance from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He also said the program would accept Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans and that grant funding would temporarily cover medications for uninsured clients.

Wilson said the units would serve adults, people involved in the criminal-justice system and pregnant people in active substance use; she said Anchor Addiction intends to partner with OhioHealth to coordinate prenatal care for pregnant patients. Thacker described procedures the units would use to reconcile controlled medications and to perform medication counts in keeping with DEA and state pharmacy rules.

Commissioners acknowledged the scale of the opioid problem in Lawrence County and thanked the presenters. Thacker said he would continue coordinating with the county health department and local officials on scheduling and site locations; no formal vote or approval to host the units was recorded in the meeting minutes.

Why this matters: Anchor Addiction's mobile units would bring regulated, on-site medication and counseling to residents who the presenters said may otherwise travel long distances for care. The county's provisional overdose-death figure that Thacker cited underscores the local public-health rationale he gave for the proposal.