Wicomico County Health Department Receives Certificate of Promising Practice

Salisbury, MD - The Wicomico County Health Department announced yesterday in a press conference that it has received a Certificate of Promising Practice from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) for its pilot Community Outreach Addictions Team (COAT). With this certification, the program exhibits the potential for becoming a Model Practice in our nation’s fight against the opioid epidemic.

The COAT team, created in June of 2016, is comprised of peer support specialists who are able to respond to overdose calls and link individuals battling addiction with treatment services. This innovative program has been successful in guiding 56% its contacts into treatment. The success the Health Department has seen would not be possible without the collaborative relationships with Peninsula Regional Medical Center and the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office.

County Executive Bob Culver and Health Officer Lori Brewster recognized members of the Community Outreach Addictions Team yesterday for their extraordinary work in reducing the number of overdoses and playing a part in assisting individuals into treatment and recovery.

NACCHO is a national organization that represents over 2,800 local public health departments in the U.S. and provides leadership, up-to-date information, subject matter expertise, and other resources to strengthen local health departments’ program work in a wide array of public health and safety areas.

If you know of someone in need of treatment for a substance use disorder, please call 443-783-6875. For more information on the COAT program, please visit www.wicomicohealth.org.