Parkview Hospital, Inc.

The Parkview Hospital health system is an integrated web of hospitals, clinics, and physicians’ offices in northeast Indiana, primarily serving residents of Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Wabash, and Whitley counties. In an effort to expand access to care, Dekalb, Noble and LaGrange county hospitals have joined together to implement the Rural Community SUD/OUD Response Program-MAT Implementation project in the rural counties of DeKalb, LaGrange and Noble. Each hospital is in a HRSA-designated rural county in northeast Indiana. Parkview Hospital, is in a non-rural county but is the hub for inpatient and residential treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs). The consortium is seeking to improve access because (1) there are no MAT programs in DeKalb, LaGrange and Noble counties, (2) other SUD/OUD services are fragmented, hard to access, and/or unavailable within the counties, (3) the courts and other community agencies have little access to recovery coaches who are crucial for the success of those who need the services, (4) the hospitals have an established web of clinical and social services partnerships within their respective counties, but these are primarily focused on medical and social needs and not currently focused on MAT and addiction treatment on a large scale. This project will reduce the morbidity and mortality of SUD/OUD in rural communities at the highest risk for SUD/OUD by: (1) increasing staff available to serve vulnerable individuals at risk for SUD/OUD, (2) expanding rural access points and adding telehealth options to increase access to needed medications, (3) addressing the stigma by health care providers of the individuals at risk for SUD/OUD when treating them in an office setting, and (4) assuring that through the support of peer recovery specialists in the community, courts and emergency rooms, individuals will have compassionate, knowledgeable, and timely connections to care for treatment and to overcome the barriers they may encounter on the recovery journey.