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Bayfield Health Department receives $12K Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Grant

The County Journal - 7/15/2017

It was announced recently that the Bayfield County Health Department has been selected as one of 10 recipients of Security Health Plan's 2017 Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Grants.

"The grant was written to establish three permanent sharps collection and prescription drug collection drop box points in Bayfield County," said Bayfield County Health Department Director/Health Officer Sara Wartman.

While Wartman helped the staff applying for the grant, she says they did most of the work and deserve all of the credit, especially Peter Morrissette.

"He's our program manager for the grant," she said, mentioning that he really took the lead.

The Bayfield County Health Department sought out the grant after identifying that there was a need in the community for one based on citizen input, Wartman explained.

"We've been approached by many citizens about the need for a proper place to dispose of used needles," she said, providing the example of a person with diabetes who has to take insulin regularly.

"That's why we started pursuing grants in the first place," Wartman said. "In the process we found this grant opportunity through Security Health and it sounded like a win/win, and so this grant helps provide us the infrastructure to actually establish these three permanent drop box locations."

The $12,000 in grant funding will be used to help assist with the expenses of establishing the three permanent sharps and pharmaceuticals prescription drug collection locations, Wartman said.

"The grant is kind of to provide the infrastructure or the actual materials needed," she said. "It cost so much for the different drop boxes, especially for prescription drugs because there's standards on how they need to be installed, the bolts in the ground and so forth."

Beyond helping to cover the costs of installing three new permanent collections stations, Wartman said the funding would also be used to provide education and outreach in the community.

"By getting rid of your unused or expired prescription medications you may actually be helping to prevent or at least inhibit others from unlawfully using or stealing your prescription medications," she said.

In a way, Wartman said, this could help with the community health improvement plan, which has focused on alcohol and other drug abuse as the major concern in our community for the last two cycles.

"Every three years we (the Bayfield County Health Department and the Ashland County Health Department) partner with the hospital (Memorial Medical Center) to do this community health improvement plan, and for six years we have been working on alcohol and other drug abuse as our main priority," she said. "This in a roundabout way is hopefully helping to also address not just expired prescription medications ? but hopefully trying to address getting unused drugs out of addicts hands and helping address the drug addiction issues in the community."

Wartman said the goal is to make the drop-off locations as widespread as possible so that they are accessible to everyone who lives in Bayfield County, including those who live in rural locations.

"There's a lot of elderly persons who have limited transportation options and ? may have all of these prescription drugs that they no longer need, and so we want to try and be accommodating for those who have transportation issues who live in our county," she said, pointing out that there may be requirements for law enforcement monitoring so the locations might have to be focused in more municipal or higher population centers.

"We'll be purchasing the equipment and working with contractors to have the different drop boxes installed and we're hoping to have it installed this fall if possible," she said, explaining that as they are still sorting out the permanent locations, that may not happen until this winter.

"At this point we are considering Bayfield, Washburn and Iron River simply because of the law enforcement presence in those areas," Wartman said, reiterating that at this point nothing is for certain.

"The grant itself helps us with the infrastructure to actually implement and have these three permanent drop box location for sharps and prescription drugs, and then the next step will be continuing our partnerships locally, to have that sustainable piece for the destruction of the unused meds and continued outreach and education on sharps collection points and so forth," she said.

As a health maintenance organization, Wartman said she thinks Security Health sees the value in investing in the communities.

"Our Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Grants are one way we can help our local communities," said Jay Shrader, Marshfield Clinic Health System Vice President of Community Health and Wellness, in a recent release. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates opioid dependence costs the healthcare system $78.5 billion on an annual basis. Meanwhile, the state toll of opioid-related deaths rose to 622 in 2014, making opioid-related deaths a leading cause of death in Wisconsin.

The release notes that the 2017 Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Grants are part of a larger Marshfield Clinic Health System effort to fight the opioid epidemic and manage the rising cost of healthcare. Other synchronized efforts include changes to pharmacy management services and the installation of medication disposal kiosks.

"An epidemic this serious will take the collaboration and cooperation of everyone in the community," said Shrader. "We're happy to do our part."

If anyone currently has any meds they'd like to properly dispose of right away, Wartman pointed out that there is a Hazardous and Electronic Wastes and Meds Clean Sweep Collection going on today from 10 a.m. to noon at the Bayfield County Highway Department garage in Washburn, and from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Iron River Community Center.

If anyone has questions Wartman encourages calling the Bayfield County Health Department at 715-373-6109.