In 2023, Florida received $205.7 million dollars as part of a multistate settlement with the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma — what's known as the Opioid Settlement.
The money was to be used for prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts statewide. It was distributed by the Florida Department of Children and Families and Lee County received about $5,500,000.
Last summer, the Lee County Board of Commissioners approved a pilot phase of what's called a Paramedicine Program using some of that opioid settlement funding. These programs, which exist around the country in various forms, use Emergency Medical Services resources — think Paramedics and EMTs — to provide care for people at risk of, or who have overdosed on opioids.
That program was a success and last month, Lee Commissioners approved an agreement with Lee Health to create an expanded Community Paramedicine Program. It provides in-home care to individuals to reduce ambulance trips to emergency departments at hospitals for illnesses or injuries that are less likely to progress or develop complications.
Lee Health patients will be referred to the program, which will lead to a multidisciplinary team of providers to assist patients with their recovery at home. The goal is to keep patients from needing to return to the hospital for follow-up care, speeding their recovery and improving their overall health. The team includes emergency medical technicians, paramedics, case managers and social workers. Under terms of the agreement, Lee Health will reimburse Lee County Emergency Medical Services up to $1,316,777 in the programs first year. Lee Health owns and operates five acute care hospitals: Lee Memorial Hospital, Gulf Coast Medical Center, HealthPark Medical Center, Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and Cape Coral Hospital.
To learn more about the program — both the pilot and the expansion — we talk two people from Lee County Emergency Services.
Guests:
Dr. Jim Augustine, Medical Director for Lee County Emergency Medical Services
Dr. Sariely Sandoval, Assistant Medical Director for Lee County EMS
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