In 2021 & 2022 alone, there were 28 reported overdose deaths in Cortland County. In addition to the wide distribution of naloxone, increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder has been shown to save lives. This is the focus on the new Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) Campaign that Healing Cortland and its partners recently launched. 

Opioid Use Disorder is often a chronic condition like diabetes and heart disease. Like many other chronic conditions, it can be managed with medications like buprenorphine (Suboxone), naltrexone (Vivitrol), and methadone–known as Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD)–that reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings and decrease the risk for return to use and overdose death. For people who want to reduce or stop using opioids, evidence-based approaches are available to do this safely, and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are one such approach. Often, the fear of being judged keeps people with opioid use disorder from seeking out treatment. 

A new partnership with NY MATTERS is making it easier for individuals to access this life-saving medication. NY MATTERS facilitates rapid referrals to outpatient treatment for opioid use disorders through its electronic referral system. Typically, individuals can get connected to medication within 24-48 hours. Currently, in Cortland County, there are a small but growing number of local and regional agencies that have signed up to use this platform to help connect individuals to services.

The local participating agencies include:

• Southern Tier AIDS Program
• Healing Hearts Collaborative
• Wishing Wellness Center, Catholic Charities
• Cortland Free Library
• Access to Independence of Cortland County
• REACH Medical
• Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services
• Cayuga Medical Associates, PC  Walk-In Clinic
• Behavioral Health Collaborative of the Southern Tier

The Southern Tier AIDS Program (STAP) alone made 73 referrals to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) using the NY MATTERS referral platform in Cortland County in 2022. This shows the promise of this tool in addressing an important community need. There are many barriers that individuals may face to get connected with a medical professional to access medication. These may include not having a primary doctor, not having medical insurance, lack of transportation, working daytime hours, needing child care, etc. By including other social service agencies where individuals might already feel safe or have existing relationships, NY MATTERS is reducing barriers to treatment. 

As part of the MOUD Awareness Campaign that is running now until early May, the Healing Cortland project hopes to increase awareness of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) options and reduce stigma that impacts people with this condition from seeking medical care. 

Valerie Partridge, Program Manager at Catholic Charities’ Wishing Wellness Peer Center, has seen the impacts of medication stigma first-hand. She wants folks to know that there are people in our community who can help: “If you are struggling, please reach out. I understand how difficult it can be to make that first step, I’ve been there. MOUD helped me find and manage my recovery, it could help you too.” The Wishing Wellness Center is one of those places where anyone can stop by to receive peer support and linkage to MOUD or other treatment options. 

About the HEALing Communities Study

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimates that 2.1 million Americans have opioid use disorder, yet fewer than 20% of those receive specialty care in a given year. New York state has one of the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths in the nation. A menu of evidence-based practices (EBPs) exists, including opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution programs, prescription opioid safety, FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder, behavioral therapies, and recovery support services. Unfortunately, these EBPs have largely failed to penetrate community settings.

As a result, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) launched the HEALing Communities Study (HCS) to identify the evidence-based practices that are most effective at the local level in preventing and treating opioid use disorder. The goal of the study is to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths by 40 percent. The first phase of the study, which ended June 30, occurred in Cayuga, Columbia, Greene, Erie, Lewis, Putnam, Suffolk, and Ulster Counties. The second phase of the study will now run through December 2023 in Cortland, Broome, Chautauqua, Genesee, Monroe, Orange, Sullivan, and Yates counties. 

For More Information

Learn more about NY MATTERS by visiting mattersnetwork.org or contacting Kurt Kleefeld, Regional Coordinator for the Southern Tier at kkleefeld@mattersnetwork.org or (607)725-1924.

To learn more about the Healing Cortland project and to help end overdoses in Cortland County, visit healtogetherny.org/cortland or contact Aster Parrott, Community Engagement Coordinator, aparrott@cortlandareactc.org or (607) 218-5488‬ (call or text).