Medical leadership told the Board of State Prison Commissioners that staffing and systems are improving while the department expands medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

A senior medical presenter reported a signed contract for a correctional inpatient pharmacy system (SIPs) that will allow point-of-care ordering and reduce turnaround time for prescriptions; training is planned for July with a projected go‑live in August. The presenter also described installation of Pyxis inventory controls in most facilities to track controlled medications in real time and reduce diversion.

Robin Theiss, substance use disorder program director for NDOC, said MOUD is ‘‘evidence-based’’ and uses methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone alongside behavioral health services. Theiss described a five-year effort to stand up MOUD services and said NDOC has been accepted to SAMHSA’s ‘‘Advancing MOUD in Carceral Settings’’ policy academy, which helped the department create policy, workflows and forms to standardize care.

Theiss said NDOC currently stabilizes people on buprenorphine transferred from county jails and has used SUBLOCADE injections to reduce diversion risk because ‘‘it's hard to divert an injection in your body that lasts 30 days.’’ She told the board that the per-injection cost is about $1,500 to $2,000 and that expansion to some facilities (Ely, Lovelock) depends on available nursing/providers and planned staffing support. Theiss also said opioid settlement funds will be used to hire a MAT coordinator in year one to oversee program expansion.

Board members asked whether every facility offers MOUD; Theiss said services are active at High Desert, Southern Desert, transitional housing centers and several other sites, but not at Ely or Lovelock due to provider shortages. NDOC and DHHS were described as partners providing staff and telemedicine support while NDOC builds on internal capacity.

Next steps: NDOC plans to continue using settlement funds and training partnerships to expand MOUD access and to transition some administration duties to NDOC medical staff in year two of grant funding.