McConnell helps secure nearly $3 Million to combat opioid abuse in Kentucky

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will distribute nearly $3 million to eight Kentucky organizations through the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), and that a Corbin organization will receive part of that funding.

RCORP is a multi-year initiative by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) aimed at reducing the morbidity and mortality of substance use disorder (SUD), including opioid use disorder (OUD) in high-risk rural communities, according to its website.

Corbin’s Kentucky Rural Health Information Technology Network Inc. will receive $300,000 from the RCORP-Overdose Response program to help combat the opioid and substance abuse epidemic, according to a release from McConnell’s office.

According to the RCORP website, Kentucky Rural Health Information Technology Network Inc.’s project is designed to implement a financially sustainable model that primarily addresses the barriers to care for those persons suffering from substance-use-disorder, specifically opioid-use-disorder.

Its model is focused on three fundamental areas of concentration; (1) education and community outreach, (2) medically-assisted-treatment and behavioral counseling; (3) recovery support services to include transitional housing, transportation and child-care, according to the website.

For more information about Kentucky Rural Health Information Technology Network Inc., log onto its website at www.horizonhealthky.org.

Last year, Kentucky Rural Health Information Technology Network Inc. received $500,000 in federal RCORP funding.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, McConnell supported funding for RCORP through the federal appropriations process.

“Substance abuse and overdose deaths have spiked dramatically in Kentucky over the past few years, adding renewed urgency to our fight against opioid addiction,” McConnell said. “(The) funding will support several important community efforts that play a vital role in addressing the opioid crisis across the Commonwealth. Thanks to RCORP, these impactful organizations can continue to help those struggling with substance abuse get the resources they need to reclaim their health and turn their lives around.”