Opioid epidemic focus of latest round of Lake, Geauga county grant funding

The Cleveland Foundation Board of Directors put a particular focus on the opioid epidemic in a recent round of approved funding in Lake and Geauga counties.

University Hospitals was among the grant recipients. The board awarded the health system $70,000 for the piloting of an emergency department intervention model to fight the opioid epidemic in Geauga County.

The UH Geauga Medical Center received an estimated 1,250 emergency department visits in 2015 for medical problems related to substance abuse and addiction, according to a Cleveland Foundation news release. The grant funds will be used to employ a fulltime intervention specialist to be embedded in the emergency department during peak hours in order to provide assessment, referral and follow-up.

The Cleveland Foundation board also awarded $40,000 to the Lake Health Foundation, providing capital support to double addiction treatments beds in Lake County from 16 to 32. The Cleveland Foundation said this will allow the community to better meet the demands of responding to the growing opioid epidemic as part of the Opiate Recovery Transition program. This program is a collaboration involving Lake Health; the Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board; Windsor-Laurelwood Center for Behavioral Mental Medicine; Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers; and Signature Health.

Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers also received $19,000 from the Cleveland Foundation for the purchase of a van to help alleviate client transportation challenges in both counties. The board said the van will help Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers overcome the relative lack of public transportation and the need for employees to use their personal vehicles.

“This is especially important when transporting clients registered as opiate dependent as they travel to various locations in their progression through the stages of treatment,” the news release stated.

Cleveland Foundation’s board also approved funds addressing other needs outside the opioid epidemic.

The board awarded $24,290 to the Catholic Charities Corporation to help Geauga County residents “build the foundation to rise out of poverty via a new initiative called Stepping Ahead.” This new initiative combines employment, mentorships and social service support with the framework of the nationally recognized Getting Ahead in a Just-Getting-By World initiative, where participants have demonstrated improvement in mental health and well-being, goal-directed behavior and social support.

Leadership Lake County was awarded $10,000 for the piloting of a new model aiming to develop stronger nonprofit leaders across Lake and Geauga counties, with a focus on women. The intent is to increase the capacity and strength of nonprofits in the two counties to allow for expanded collaborations and increased effectiveness, according to the release.

DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children was awarded $9,300 to help fund the development of the initial panel testing kit and lab materials for 100 pilot screens for the creation of a more cost-effective method of diagnosing rare genetic disorders. The goal is to provide physicians with faster and more effective diagnostic tools to test babies for a wide range of genetic disorders commonly found in Geauga Amish families.