CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OH – County Executive Armond Budish and Council President Dan Brady today announced Phase One of the Cuyahoga County Opioid Crisis Mitigation Plan. In 2017, Cuyahoga County filed suit against manufacturers, distributors, and four individuals who were instrumental in promoting opioids for sale and distribution nationally and in Cuyahoga County. Cuyahoga County, along with Summit County, is currently set to proceed to a first trial against some of the companies responsible for the damages caused by fueling the opioid crisis.

Cuyahoga and Summit Counties have so far secured four settlements totaling $61 million for the two counties. Cuyahoga County has received approximately $23 million of the settlement funding. The Cuyahoga County Opioid Crisis Mitigation Plan is investing the County’s settlement money in evidence-based, impactful, sustainable programs with a focus on prevention, treatment and recovery.

“Cuyahoga County is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. Due to a handful of corporations that put their desire for profits over the health and well-being of the community, our community is suffering the consequences of this plague,” said County Executive Armond Budish. “We are working to recover some resources necessary to pay the costs which we’ve already incurred and are likely to incur for years to come. Working with County Council, the County Prosecutor’s Office and our community partners, we are developing an Opioid Crisis Mitigation Plan to use the funds from the settlements and trial to directly address the tremendous needs of our community resulting from this crisis.”

“Nearly two years ago, Cuyahoga County along with Summit County, filed a lawsuit to hold the opioid industry accountable for the harm caused by their actions. The settlement funds that we have received allow us to get started in the important work of providing services to help avoid the next wave of casualties,” said County Council President Dan Brady.

The following are the primary recipients of Phase One funds:

The Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board:

• Phase One provides $5,433,000 to the ADAMHS Board for an additional 32 Residential Treatment Beds and for the expansion of its Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP). The Residential Treatment Beds will serve approximately 260 additional clients. The expansion of the Partial Hospitalization and IOP will serve approximately 312 additional clients.

St. Vincent Charity’s Rosary Hall:

The County is providing $2 million to St. Vincent Charity’s Rosary Hall. Funding will provide for:

• Peer recovery—St. Vincent Charity’s Rosary Hall would like to focus their initial efforts with the over 300 individuals who come to their emergency department as a result of an overdose.
• The expansion of their Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)—St. Vincent Charity’s Rosary Hall is looking to expand its PHP capacity to serve approximately 130 individuals on an annual basis. St. Vincent Charity’s Rosary Hall expects to offer a third session of its IOP that would enable them to serve over 245 individuals annually.
• The establishment of a panel for integrated care so that patients have increased access to the right care at the right time.

MetroHealth

• MetroHealth will receive $1,772,000 to treat and serve addicted inmates at the County Jail. MetroHealth will identify individuals with addiction problems and will treat these inmates using specially trained medical professionals focused on treatment, substance withdrawal and suicide prevention.
• MetroHealth will receive another $931,000 to create an opioid treatment program unit at the jail which will be federally licensed to treat opioid use disorder with methadone and buprenorphine.

Thrive ED Program

• The County will provide $3 million to hospital emergency rooms to extend the Thrive ED Program. Thrive ED is an innovative program linking individuals in an emergency room that survive an overdose for immediate withdrawal management, treatment and other recovery support services.

Sobriety, Treatment and Recovery Teams (START) Program

• The Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services’ START Program will receive $3.5 million. The START Program works to ensure the safety of mothers and newborn children who have confirmed chemical dependency problems. Funding will be used to increase staff as data shows that mothers involved in START are 1.8 times more likely to achieve sobriety through the program.

Cuyahoga County also anticipates creating a diversion program in 2020 that would allow low-level drug offenders to seek support, services and recovery. The County is planning to provide $2.5 million for the diversion program as an initial investment.

Read more coverage of the announcement in: The Plain Dealer, Cleveland Scene, WEWS Channel 5 and Cleveland Jewish News.