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North Carolina expands medication-based opioid treatment: mobile and medication units, more OTP capacity
Summary
State and academic presenters outlined efforts to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) through OTPs, mobile and medication units, and the NCSTAR training network; presenters cited about 90 OTPs statewide and nearly 32,000 unique OTP patients in the past year.
"The gold standard of care for opioid use disorder is MOUD or medications for opioid use disorder," Anna Stanley of the state SOTA team told webinar attendees as she reviewed methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone and described treatment settings from office‑based care to licensed opioid treatment programs (OTPs).
Stanley said OTPs provide comprehensive services — counseling, case management, naloxone distribution and same‑day medication access — and that North Carolina has about 90 OTPs. "In the past year, our OTPs have served just under 32,000 unique patients," she said, and added that roughly 58% of those patients receive Medicaid or state block grant funding.
Dr. Eric Morris of Morris Clinics described piloting the state's first medication unit in 2021 and the clinic’s mobile unit, which he said can deliver the same services as a brick‑and‑mortar OTP: "There's really nothing that you can't do in a medication unit," Morris said, and noted mobile vans are being inspected for service and that telemedicine and grants support intakes from emergency departments and jails.
UNC Addiction Medicine and the NCSTAR network described training and 'at‑the‑elbow' clinical support to increase prescriber comfort with MOUD in primary care and community settings. "We need to listen and take learnings from the community while we are teaching," said Dr. Claire West, director of NCSTAR at UNC, describing bidirectional learning that helps expand treatment in rural and underserved counties.
Dr. Castro, a family physician working in a rural residency and NCSTAR partner, said the network is expanding: three academic hubs and 27 partner clinics in the broader network, with a sample of 10 partner clinics showing 4,258 patients receiving MOUD. NCSTAR presenters outlined plans for provider forums, data infrastructure, and continued expansion into counties with limited access.
Speakers also detailed operational steps: changes to federal rules that eliminated the DATA-waiver requirement for buprenorphine prescribing, regulatory allowances that permit mobile and medication units to complete intakes and dosing, and grant-funded pilots to link emergency departments with OTP follow‑up care.
Presenters urged wider provider training and community partnerships to increase choice and access to MOUD across the state; officials said additional slide materials and contact emails will be posted with the webinar recording.
