HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of Reno County Commissioners will look at a potential Request for Proposal for ways to spend the county's share of the opioid settlement at its meeting on Wednesday.
According to agenda documents, over 100,000 people died as a result of the overdose epidemic from September 2020 to September 2021.
Approximately 75,000 of those deaths involved opioids, most of which were due to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Settlements have been reached with several opioid distributors and outline core abatement strategies to address the opioid crisis.
Given the short-term nature of the funds, prioritization is given to fading projects in need of one-time or start-up costs.
In order to best meet the needs of our community, the Reno County Health Department has convened a committee. After notifying the county commission of this committee in January, the Opioid Settlement Funds Advisory Oversight Committee, made up of a variety of community stakeholders who have looked at the data available for Reno County, identified goals and measures of success for the City of Hutchinson and Reno County as a whole as well as identified the abatement strategies that should be prioritized.
This committee is tasked with making sure that the Reno County Fights Addiction Fund is spent in a way that saves lives from prescription opioid misuse and illicit opioid use, while also coming alongside efforts currently happening within Reno County.
The Board of County Commissioners meets at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Veterans Room at the Reno County Courthouse.
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