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Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health receives grant to address opioid misuse

Heroin is a favorite in Iowa
MASON CITY — The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health, in partnership with MercyOne North Iowa, Prairie Ridge Integrated Behavioral Healthcare, and the Mason City Youth Task Force, has been awarded the 2019 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HRSA) Rural Communities Opioid Response Program planning grant. This grant will support the formation of a regional team to develop a customized strategic response plan to address opioid and substance abuse prevention and treatment needs in North Iowa.

This team will work together to create a plan to bring more substance abuse counselors, mental health and medical providers to North Iowa. This project’s focus areas are prevention and treatment with an overall goal of preventing opioid and substance abuse disorder whenever possible, while providing more access to treatment services in North Iowa.

“Our main goal is to find what our community’s current situation is, what our needs are, and how we can improve,” said Alyse DeVries, Public Health Strategist for the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health. “This grant will allow us to come together as a community to address opioid and substance abuse as a North Iowa team vs. individual agencies. This will make for a much stronger approach to this issue.”

Cerro Gordo County serves as the hub for medical, mental health, sexual health, social service, and substance use disorder treatment providers for the North Iowa area. The County has been identified as a mental health shortage area meaning we do not have enough mental health providers to meet the needs of our county population. Mental health and substance abuse are often connected.

“Currently, there are only six medical providers offering Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) in a 50 mile radius of Mason City,” stated DeVries. “Medication Assisted Therapy helps persons with substance use disorder safely discontinue use of their substance. We are hopeful this will give more patients access to treatment and a return to a healthy life.”

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