An Onondaga County health improvement plan outlined solutions for responding to chronic diseases and opioid-related hospitalization and overdoses.

The 2019-2021 Community Health Assessment and Improvement Plan, released Jan. 16, used feedback from more than 3,000 county residents to outline the community’s overall health and detail existing resources that could be used to respond to health concerns.

The health department partnered with Crouse Health, St. Joseph’s Health and the Upstate University Hospital for the plan, which is released every two years, at least.

Onondaga County exceeds almost all of New York state in its rate of opioid-related hospitalizations and overdoses, according to this year’s plan.

The health department has already begun training medical professionals to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication that assists treatments for opioid addiction, the plan states. Community members are also being trained to administer naloxone, which can counter the effects of an opioid overdose.

The health department has trained about 200 people to administer naloxone. An overdose can happen anywhere, said Mariah Senecal-Reilly, a program coordinator at Onondaga Health Department who has worked on community mental health and substance use issues.

“We feel it’s important to get naloxone out as widely as possible throughout our entire community,” Senecal-Reilly said.

The health department is also working on a program using medication-assisted treatment to help county jail inmates with a history of substance abuse transition back into the community after their release.

The program will likely begin in the coming months and will involve a peer transition service that connects inmates to different community services prior to their release, Senecal-Reilly said.

“We are always trying to do innovative and impactful work on substance abuse and mental health initiatives within our community,” she said. “So, it is always ever-changing.”

The county’s plan also proposed two programs that increase access to nutrition, physical activity and regular healthcare meant to address chronic illnesses.

Over half of census tracts in Syracuse are food deserts, and 26.1% of Onondaga County’s residents have experienced food insecurity due to income and affordability, the plan said. Food deserts are areas where the poverty rate is greater than 20% and more than 33% of residents are over half a mile from a supermarket.

One of the proposed programs would partner with Westside Family Pharmacy and Emmi Farms to increase access to healthy and affordable food and beverages. The health department initiated a pilot version of the program last November.

“The Westside has very limited access to fresh produce,” said Kathy Haase, another program coordinator with the health department. “The population that we were trying to reach really has limited access as far as transportation and even having a grocery store nearby.”

Although stores like Price Rite, Aldi, Dollar General and Walmart have continued to offer groceries in Syracuse’s Westside neighborhood, the area has lost three discount grocery stores in the past two years.

While the department’s pilot program received an overall positive response, its cost will determine whether or not it is feasible, Haase said

“We’re in the process of determining how we can work on that feasibly because it could be a very important program and would certainly be a way of increasing access and removing barriers to healthy foods,” Haase said. “It all comes down to the sustainability of it.”

The health department also partnered with Emmi Farms for its Farmers Market Nutrition Program, a food security initiative supporting the county’s Women, Infants and Children clinic in Syracuse, the plan said.

WIC provides its patients with coupons to purchase locally grown fresh produce at farmers markets or roadside stands in addition to their regular WIC benefits. The health department held the market seven times this past summer and provided more than 2,000 pounds of fresh and local produce.

The health department is also working on developing a produce delivery service with the Syracuse City School District for faculty and staff at the 33 buildings, Haase said.

“We know if people are eating more fresh produce, it helps to reduce the risk of chronic illness, which is the overarching goal,” she said.

Published on February 9, 2020 at 11:17 pm