Integrated substance use disorder (SUD) training program - mountain comprehensive health corporation PO box 40, 226 medical plaza LN, whitesburg, KY 41858 project director: sydney COX, DSW, lcsw,…

Integrated substance use disorder (SUD) training program - mountain comprehensive health corporation PO box 40, 226 medical plaza LN, whitesburg, KY 41858 project director: sydney COX, DSW, lcsw, lcadc voice (606) 633-4871 EXT. 2394 FAX (606) 633-0883 website: WWW.mchcky.COM federal funds requested: $184,796 the proverbial 'ground zero' of the opioid epidemic, southeastern kentucky has been the epicenter for opioid use disorder in the united states for decades. Since 2016, mountain comprehensive health corporation (mchc), a federally qualified health center with locations in seven southeastern kentucky counties, has been providing behavioral health and addiction treatment services to some of the most socioeconomically vulnerable populations in the country. Integrated behavioral health and addiction services within primary care allow for improved access to treatment, improved patient retention, improved health outcomes, and a reduction in the financial and physical strain that untreated addiction can have on local healthcare systems. To expand integrated services, mchc plans to contract with the university of louisville's trager institute to provide a comprehensive training program that will expand the range of addiction treatment services provided in mchc's integrated care network. This collaboration will allow for greater specialized care for those seeking addiction treatment. Focusing on the disciplines of nursing, advanced practice nursing, professional counselors, and social work, mchc will partner with trager to move current staff within those disciplines towards independent addiction licensure certification, including: carn certification for registered nurses, carn-AP for advanced practice registered nurses, and licensed alcohol and drug counselor certification for advanced practice social workers and professional counselors. Each discipline and additional licensure requires a specific amount of educational credits, which will be provided by the trager institute. Award funding would be utilize d to pay for the costs associated with providing the trainings, costs associated with obtaining the license such as exam fees and license fees, and the costs of maintaining mchc's status as a learning facility. Mchc plans to foster one participant per discipline within the first year, for a total of up to four participants. Existing staff will be enrolled as participants to develop this program, therefore the program could begin immediately upon recognition of award. The program goal would be to improve addiction treatment access in southeastern kentucky by increasing the number of addiction specialty service providers within the mchc integrated primary care network. By increasing the number of primary care based addiction specialists in the region, addiction treatment outcomes and overall health outcomes for underserved populations within central appalachia would improve. Primary program objectives: 1) have a minimum of one employee in each of the four disciplines working towards their independent licensure in addiction within 60 days of award, and 2) have at least two of those participants pass the examination for their respective addiction license by the end of their program tenure (either 12 months for full time or 24 months for part-time). Funding priority is being requested under criterion 4: rural, tribal, or underserved communities.