Cookeville will send additional opioid abatement money to Cookeville Regional to assist residents through its Substance Abuse Navigator Program.
Substance Abuse Navigator John Johnson told the CRMC Board of Trustees Thursday the program is designed to help connect patients who visit the hospital to recovery services and navigate the recovery process. Johnson said navigating the recovery process is challenging.
“It’s not always so simple that oh, ‘I drink too much alcohol, I need a list of places or something like that,'” Johnson said. “A lot of times, by the time they get here, they have medical conditions. A lot of them have mental health conditions, things like that. Some of them have insurance, some of them have no insurance.”
The program also helps patients with transportation to and from treatment, provides financial assistance for medications during treatment, and helps patients find their way to a halfway house or sober living home. Substance Abuse Navigator Tina Ledbetter said helping patients with the financial aspect of the recovery is so important, as many patients are unemployed or homeless.
“We are really helping them get, you know, a hand up, not a hand out, but a hand up,” Ledbetter said. “You know, to get them on their feet to where they can succeed in their recovery journey. So we are really honored to be in this position to help others who are what we once were.”
CEO Buffy Key said the program is an additional step that CRMC can take to help patients who are struggling with substance abuse.
“We’re gonna take care of them physically, obviously, and get them back to health on that front,” Key said. “But we are not mental health counselors. And we know some of them may need that for their substance abuse addiction. And so that’s why this was so important to us, because we are seeing those patients anyway. So wouldn’t it be great to see them when they are at that lowest point and ask them if they want to get help, and we’ve got somebody that can help them get there.”
Cookeville Mayor Laurin Wheaton said the city is still receiving more funding from the settlement, which will also be donated to the program.
“I think that was the whole purpose, is we wanted to make sure it’s going directly into our community,” Wheaton said. “This is where they come a lot of times, or the first time, is through the emergency room of the hospital.”
In other business, the board of trustees elected Danny Rader as the new chairman. The board elects a new chairman every year. Rader takes the position after Wheaton. Rader has served on the board for five years.
The board also elected new officers. The officers include Past-Chairman Laurin Wheaton, Vice-Chairman Dr. Scott Copeland, Secretary Elma Anderson, and Treasurer Buffy Key.
The board elected Justin Cumby to serve on the Executive Committee. Cumby will take the place of Joe Jestus next month.
The board approved the Corporate Compliance Committee Handbook. Paula Duty said the handbook does not have any changes from the previous year.
