Addressing a rapidly changing service landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic: Creation of the Oregon substance use disorder resource collaborative

• Published in: Journal of substance abuse treatment Vol. 124; p. 108244
• Main Authors: Lockard, Rachel A., Priest, Kelsey C., Brown, Patrick C.M., Graveson, Amanda, Englander, Honora
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.05.2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Addiction Medicine - trends; Addictions; Collaboration; Community; Community resources; Community-based treatment; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Discharge planning; Drug addiction; Drug use; Harm Reduction; Health Services Accessibility; Health systems; Humans; Inpatient care; Intersectionality; Medical students; Oregon; Pandemics; Personal safety; Quarantine; Referral and Consultation; Resource Allocation; Safety-net programs; Safety-net Providers - organization & administration; Substance use disorder; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Telemedicine; Treatment capacity; Oregon; United States > US; Substance use disorder; COVID-19; Health systems; Treatment capacity; Safety-net programs
• ISSN: 0740-5472; 1873-6483
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108244

Following the rising crisis of COVID-19 and the Oregon governor's stay-at-home orders, members of the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) inpatient addiction consult service recognized that local addiction treatment and recovery organizations were operating at limited capacity. As a result, discharge planning, patient access to local community-based treatment, and safety-net programming were affected. Given structural and intersectional risk vulnerabilities of people with substance use disorders (SUDs), the OHSU members felt that COVID-19 would disproportionately impact chronically marginalized members of our community. These inequities inspired the formation of the Oregon substance use disorder resources collaborative (ORSUD) led by four medical students. ORSUD's mission is to support the efforts of local safety-net organizations that and front-line providers who serve chronically marginalized community members in the midst of the global pandemic. We operationalized our mission through: 1) collecting and disseminating operational and capacity changes in local addiction and harm reduction services to the broader treatment community, and 2) identifying and addressing immediate resource needs for local safety-net programs. Our program uses a real-time public-facing document to collate local programmatic updates and general community resources. COVID-19 disproportionately burdens people with SUDs; thus, ORSUD exists to support programs serving people with SUDs and will continue to evolve to meet their needs and the needs of those who serve them. •The Oregon Substance Use Disorder Resource Collaborative addresses real-time capacity and needs of safety-net programs during COVID-19•Medical students have a role in the COVID-19 response•COVID-19 increases barriers to care for people with substance use disorders