Kentucky Opioid Response Efforts (KORE)

Kentucky is at the epicenter the most pressing public health crisis facing the United States today: opioid use disorder (OUD), overdose, and death. This treatable disease, along with secondary complications such as Hepatitis C and HIV, is destroying lives and our communities. Access to effective FDA approved therapies and harm-reduction interventions are needed now. UK HealthCare acknowledges that millions of dollars are required to staff and equip new programs in the Emergency Departments (ED) at Good Samaritan and Chandler; the outpatient Bridge Clinic in the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research; and opioid overdose education with naloxone training/distribution programs, as articulated in the State's KORE directive. UK HealthCare and the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research (CDAR) propose a plan to invest the $500,000 from the CURES funding for new patient care by linking those presenting for overdose at the ED (highest priority population) to medication-assisted treatment at the First Bridge Clinic, a new outpatient transitional care clinic staffed by licensed professionals and offering evidence-based treatment. By leveraging work and infrastructure that is currently underway at UK, the CURES allocation will expand capacity to treat patients and save lives in the Bluegrass Region and surrounding areas.