Grantees report outreach, mapping and permitting progress; OPUS distributed naloxone and test strips

Several community partners gave brief operational updates to the Escambia County Opioid Abatement Advisory Board.

Walter Arrington of Community Health Northwest Florida presented a ZIP-code heat map showing the distribution of core patients across Escambia and Santa Rosa counties and noted uninsured-rate trends over several years. Arrington said the map will be updated publicly on Community Health’s landing page and will include uniform data system inputs moving forward.

Drake Smith of Ministry Village said recent site revisions — including property boundary adjustments and addressing a holding pond — are nearly finished and that the organization expects to pull permitting within approximately a month.

Debbie, representing the OPUS team, reported January outreach totals: 67 boxes of naloxone distributed, 53 packs of fentanyl test strips, six wound-care kits, eight rapid hepatitis C tests, 11 rapid HIV tests, 12 education sessions and 81 contacts. The team made two referrals to substance-use treatment and one to a support group and added an outreach site where many unhoused people had gathered.

Patty Hyde reported that Lakeview Cat and the AIM team are now fully staffed with three employees and running weekly groups, in-home services and some family therapy.

Board members thanked presenters and asked follow-up questions about program coverage and data access. Contracting and startup steps for FY25–26 awardees were addressed separately in the budget discussion.