September is National Recovery Month. Over the last decade, opioid use disorder (OUD) has risen exponentially across the state and country. In 2022 alone, there were more than 21,000 overdose cases reported in Michigan emergency rooms, and sadly, more than 2,600 overdose deaths. This impacts people at all walks of life, across all communities, and worsens existing health disparities and inequity.

In this episode of the MiCare Champion Cast, Michelle Norcross, MSA, senior director of safety and quality at the MHA Keystone Center and Marissa Natzke, senior project manager of health and human services at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM), discuss one of the tools that continues to impactful in this space: Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). This pathway to recovery involves medications that relieve withdrawal symptoms and substance cravings. In many cases, MOUD treatment is paired with interventions like counseling or peer support so that a person is able to address the social and psychological factors that influence recovery.

Throughout the episode, Norcross and Natzke share details about an innovative partnership between the MHA Keystone Center and CFSEM that brings MOUD programming to hospital emergency departments (EDs). They discuss what this path to recovery looks like specifically, along with the strong, positive impact ED MOUD programming is having on OUD patients in Michigan hospitals.

To learn more about ED MOUD programming and CFSEM, visit: https://cfsem.org/initiative/opioid/

To learn more about the MHA Keystone Center, visit: https://bit.ly/3ZkuTTg

If you or someone you know is struggling with opioid use disorder, visit Michigan.gov/opioids or call the SAMSHA National Hotline, a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year, treatment referral hotline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)