On October 10, 2019, officials from Cuyahoga County announced plans for using $23.1 million won in settlements with opioid manufacturers to bolster treatment for addicts, prevent further addiction, and make investments in some agencies impacted by the opioid epidemic. St. Vincent Charity Medical Center has been selected to receive $2 million of that sum to expand addiction treatment services at Rosary Hall.

St. Vincent Charity’s Rosary Hall is Ohio’s first and best hospital-based addiction treatment center. Rosary Hall has been at the forefront of treating drug dependency for more than 60 years – treating more than 170,000 people who struggled with alcohol or drug addiction with the compassionate care that is the hallmark of St. Vincent Charity.

“The expansion of services provided at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and Rosary Hall will make an invaluable difference in our community,” said Janice G. Murphy, MSN, RN, FACHE, president and CEO, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. “We are grateful to the County Executive and his team for trusting St. Vincent Charity Medical Center with this important opportunity.”

The Opioid Mitigation Crisis Plan will use the $23 million the county received as a settlement to fund evidence-based, impactful, sustainable programs with a focus on prevention, treatment and recovery.
Money provided to Rosary Hall will be used to provide peer recovery support to help individuals access the services they need to support their long-term recovery. St. Vincent also intends to expand outpatient programs to provide longer-term support and increase access intensive outpatient treatment programs that include group sessions, counseling and other services.

“We see hundreds of individuals in our emergency room every year as a result of opioid overdose. We know the true cost to the lives of those who are addicted to opioids and to their families and loved ones,” Murphy said. “We would like to focus our initial efforts on individuals who come to our emergency department as a result of an overdose. We know that only one third of these patients are admitted into the hospital. That means that many people need follow-up outreach to provide options and support in their efforts to determine if they are ready to seek addiction recovery services.”

With this funding, Rosary Hall intends to add a complement of evidence-based practices that are proven to support long-term recovery, including:

• Expanding outpatient services through outpatient counseling and a clinic that can provide patients with ongoing medical management and counseling to avoid relapse and recidivism.
• Expanding intensive treatments such as Rosary Hall’s current intensive outpatient treatment programs in addition to a partial hospitalization program (PHP), a type of outpatient treatment program for addiction patients who require a higher level of care than standard outpatient care is able to provide.
• Expanding supports and increasing access to peer support and support during the transitions between care as well as access to integrated care.

“You can go through detox, but that’s one moment in time,” Murphy said. “Then you have to go back out in the real world with the same stressors, the same things that drove you to the drugs. And with this peer support, we can really help people stay drug free, alcohol free.”