Greenville County’s Committee on Finance voted to approve submission of an application to the South Carolina Opioid Relief Fund (SCORF) to expand EMS work linking people with opioid use disorder to treatment and hepatitis C care.

Miss Paris introduced the request and said the application would support EMS efforts to connect people released from the detention center with medication-assisted treatment and continuity of care. "This is a grant application EMS division would like to submit for funds from the South Carolina opioid relief fund," she said.

Lindsay Sloan, director of grants and donor engagement, explained Greenville County is eligible for SCORF because the county participated in opioid-related settlements and receives an allocation as a guaranteed political subdivision; she said the county currently has about $5,100,000 allocated from the state for distribution and that the portal opens quarterly.

Community Paramedic Josh Robinson described the EMS program’s outreach and outcomes. "We’ve developed partnerships with Prisma Addiction, Phoenix Center, Serenity Place, Challenges Incorporated and other nonprofit MAT centers," he said. Robinson reported EMS tested 80 patients for hepatitis C, identified 32 RNA positives and linked 26 of those to treatment. He said community paramedics completed roughly 36% of hepatitis C patients treated by Prisma Health in 2025, that about 91% of their clients have a documented substance-use disorder and an estimated 80% are unhoused, and that the program lost 9% to follow-up compared with a national average near 50%.

Robinson laid out a one-time budget request totaling $505,000: two community-paramedic FTEs (each salary about $95,000), three quick-response vehicles (QRVs) at about $100,000 each (total $300,000) and $15,000 for training and dissemination. He said the vehicles would be dedicated to SCORF-funded opioid response work and that the program hopes to carry buprenorphine on trucks in the coming year to improve MAT connections.

Committee members asked for additional documentation and data before the request (Councilor Coffey) and clarification about counseling and location schedules; Robinson and Sloan said follow-up materials and exact service schedules could be provided. The committee approved the motion to submit the SCORF application by voice vote.

Next steps: county staff will submit the SCORF application and, if awarded, return to the county process for acceptance and implementation.