Via Hartford Healthcare: “Pride was in the air Tuesday at the “Celebration of Success” reception for the Meriden Opioid Referral for Recovery (MORR) program, a partnership between first responders and Rushford that has helped put people in treatment instead of behind bars.
Started in 2018 as a way to combat the opioid crisis, the MORR program is funded by a $2 million four-year federal grant that brings together members of the Meriden Police and Fire departments, Hunter’s Ambulance and Rushford to strategize and implement strategies to combat the opioid crisis in the Meriden community.
The most effective tactic has been the enhancement of community policing efforts by embedding Rushford clinicians to provide immediate mobile crisis services to guide individuals on a path to recovery. Enhanced training and referral practices have also made a difference.
“Experts at engaging people suffering society’s stigma driven discrimination, the MORR team offers hope and embodies the Rushford motto Recovery Never Stops and Neither Do We,” said J. Craig Allen, MD, Rushford medical director and HHC vice president of addiction services.
The program results? They have gained national attention. Over the last four years, Narcan was deployed in over 560 instances by Meriden first responders with 288 individuals then referred by the first responders to the MORR program. Among those referred, 76% were able to be connected to MORR staff and in year four, after a 12-month follow-up interval, 91% of clients reached did not report subsequent overdose.”
