Montgomery Country jumps in fatal overdoes
Official says isolation during pandemic is a factor.
Overdoses in Montgomery County are on track to take dozens of more lives this year than in each of the previous two years, a stark reversal of a downward trend that began in mid-2017 at the height of the local opioid epidemic and a shift health experts say is partially attributable to the coronavirus pandemic.
Through July of this year, 201 people died from suspected overdoses in the county, up 30% from 154 deaths reported last year during the same period, according to the Montgomery County Coroner.
Drug overdose deaths have risen steadily through the pandemic, said Barbara Marsh, who as Montgomery County’s assistant health commissioner also helps lead the Community Overdose Action Team.
“Part of that we think is due to the COVID-19,” she said. “People are just more isolated right now … and become more vulnerable during this pandemic.”
Overdoses continued to rise statewide last year but had leveled off in Montgomery County the past two years after peaking in 2017 when 566 people died. While overdose deaths were already on the increase this year — up 22% in January and February — they rose 33% since March when compared to last year.
During 2019, suspected overdoses took an estimated 4,100 lives in Ohio, including 285 in Montgomery County, according to state and local records.
Marsh said social distancing and coronavirus shutdowns make it more difficult for someone to get assistance — and sometimes immediate help.
“Individuals are not around other people when they’re using
as often,” she said. “So someone who they would typically have available to be able to give them Narcan may not be there during the time of use, and the person ends up overdosing.”
Support and recovery groups have also put in-person meetings on hold, making it harder for someone to stay clean and sober, Marsh said.
“We have seen individuals who were in recovery doing very well and have relapsed during the, during the stay at home orders and due to COVID-19,” she said.
The OneFifteen Outpatient Clinic in partnership with Samaritan Behavioral Health opened last fall in Dayton, anticipated treating 1,000 patients with substance use disorder during the first 12 months. Nearly 1,400 patients have sought treatment there during just the first nine months of operation, said Marti Taylor, OneFifteen president and CEO.
“It was apparent early on that the need in our community was even greater than we thought,” she said.
OneFifteen and Samaritan Behavioral Health opened a Crisis Stabilization Unit in February right before the pandemic arrived in Ohio.
“We found ourselves fighting an epidemic within a pandemic which created unique challenges,” Taylor said.
The unit pivoted to provide care through telehealth options that required additional training for not only the staff but patients as well. Therapists, peer support specialists and care coordinators regularly stay in touch with patients to make sure they are attending virtual group therapy sessions, Taylor said.
“We are hearing from our patients that the pandemic is creating higher levels of anxiety, grief and isolation, not to mention the fear that grows with unemployment and even reported increases in domestic violence,” she said.
OneFifteen still offers onsite and hybrid services becauses remote treatment is not the best option for all patients, said Dr. Natalie Lester,
OneFifteen’s medical director.
“If covid spread increases in Montgomery County, we have the capability of converting to a more remote model of care,” Lester said. “And as contagion risk declines, we can open up more in-person services. Our plan moving forward will be to continue to offer both telehealth and in-person treatment options.”
Taylor said It’s difficult to determine how much the coronavirus pandemic weighs on overdose deaths locally, though national data show the stress, isolation, and anxiety that are related to the pandemic is fueling an increase in alcohol consumption, relapse rates and accidental overdose deaths.
An American Medical Association report updated last month shows overdose deaths were increasing in more than 35 states since the beginning of the pandemic.
Marsh said the Community Overdose Action Team, set up in 2016 to combat the opioid epidemic, has been sending out letters of hope to people who have recently experienced an overdose along with information on how to get help.
“The letters of hope are really just to let individuals know that they’re not alone,” she said.