January 17, 2023 Minutes

Weld Regional Opioid Council Meeting

Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, Room 103
1555 North 17th Avenue, Greeley CO 80631
January 17, 2023 @ 9:00 am to 10:00 am

Council Members in Attendance:  David Angelo – Firestone Police Department; Eric Aakko – Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Kim Emil – Town of Windsor Government; Mike Zeller – Greeley Police Department; Scott James – Weld County Board of County Commissioners; Jamie Ulrich – Weld County Department of Human Services; Zo Stieber Hubbard – Town of Fort Lupton; Matt Turner – Weld County Sheriff’s Office; Rick Brandt – Evans Police Department

Non-Council Members in Attendance:  Tanya Geiser – Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Gene O’Hara – Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Holly Smith – Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment; Bruce Barker – Weld County Attorney; Mickey Pirraglia – Weld County Government; Jenny Wallace – North Range Behavioral Health; Lesley Brooks – North Colorado Health Alliance; Jamey Garmon – Northern Colorado Health Network; Kyla Pfeif – Northern Colorado Health Network; MJ Jorgensen – North Colorado Health Alliance; Jennifer Mackender – Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention; Kevin Halloran – Weld County Sheriff’s Office; Chris Cross – Town of Fort Lupton; Juliana Kitten – City of Greeley; Rafael Gutierrez – Greeley Police Department; Jamie Villalobos – Northern Colorado Health Network

Minutes

1. Review and Approve Minutes and Agenda
   • Zo Stieber Hubbard moved to approve the minutes of the 08/30/2022 meeting as well as the agenda for the 01/17/2023 meeting. Matt Turner seconded the motion. Minutes for 8/30/2022 meeting and agenda for 01/17/2023 meeting were approved.
2. Workplan Review
   • Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC) has approved the submitted work plan with no issues. Received the $1.26 million funds at the end of December.
3. Cooperative Agreement
   • Waiting on a collaboration agreement from the County Attorney’s office for all partners to sign. Draft should be going out in the next few days for review. This agreement will be in substitution of an actual contract or MOU between the fiscal agent and partners.
   • Looking at dispersing money in lump sum distributions, possibly twice a year. Distributions will be dependent upon the agreement and when they will actually be used in relation to when they will be dispersed.
   • Greeley Police Department is ready to make purchase of mass spectrometer equipment and will then submit for reimbursement.
   • Council is unsure on the official fiscal year. Will ask COAC and will share that information once received.
4. Evaluating Progress
   • Council is unsure what reporting will look like in regard to evaluating progress. This is on the agenda for the next COAC meeting to discuss.
   • Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment has begun recruiting for a Substance Abuse Disorder Health Educator. This person will help in evaluating progress, along with the data analytics team at the health Department. This person will also help in creating the annual report that will be submitted to COAC.
   • Health Department tracks drug overdose deaths per year in the county. Proposal for discussion of evaluation and metrics of other proverbial “low hanging fruit” at the next Region 3 Council meeting (i.e. treatment measures, access measures, potential gaps, etc.)
5. Fentanyl Test Strips
   • State has made fentanyl test strips available, but organizations have to go through the local health department or other partnered agencies to get them. The Board of County Commissioners has given WCDPHE the approval to provide these test strips to organizations that request them. The contract with CDPHE for the test strips is in progress.
   • Send Eric an email if interested in getting these test strips. However, for expediated test strips, contact MJ Jorgensen (NCHA); MJ will forward a Google request form that law enforcement can use to request strips. David Angelo will send the form to the police association who can then forward to law enforcement agencies. The submitted form will go to North Colorado Health Alliance who will work with the network of partners to fulfill the requests in a timely manner. Strips come in boxes of 100 and have a shelf life of 2 years.
6. Additional Funding for Infrastructure
   • State of CO is receiving $385 million coming from AmerisourceBergen, CardinalHealth, Johnson & Johnson, and McKesson. Our region is getting $1.2 million. Additional parties have been added to national settlement resulting in $350 million more coming into the state. Our region could expect to receive another $800,000 or so (give or take). Will need to revisit our work plan once additional moneys come in to figure out which pots to contribute to. Unsure when this will come through. Will share more details as they come available.
   • Proposal of setting aside some money for victim advocates and/or co responders. Victim advocates may not be directly associated with substance abuse, but co responders would be a good direction. This could be a data driven conversation when we get to this point (where are our gaps in our system and how could we close those).
7. Future Meetings
   • Council agreed to continue with quarterly meetings with any additional information sent out via email between meetings. These meetings will be held as a hybrid option on the third Tuesday of the first month of each quarter at 9:00am at the Weld County Health Department. Matt turner motioned for this meeting schedule, and Zo Stieber Hubbard seconded.
8. Leftover Funds
   • Will table leftover funds until we meet again, since we haven’t officially received the funds yet. Organizations can begin their recruiting efforts. Use own internal processes for hiring these positions.
9. Next Steps
   • Cooperative agreement (as soon as it’s approved), minutes, budget update, and Google form for fentanyl test strips for law enforcement will be sent to the Council members and participants.
10. Adjourn
    • Motion by Kim Emil to adjourn the meeting. There was a second by Zo Stieber Hubbard. Meeting adjourned at 9:55am.