Rural Communities Opioid Response (Planning) - West Virginia continues to experience one of the nation's highest burdens of substance use disorder (SUD), opioid overdose mortality, and injection drug use–associated infectious diseases. Rural Appalachian communities are disproportionately affected by limited healthcare infrastructure, workforce shortages, persistent poverty, and geographic isolation. The counties of Logan, Mingo, McDowell, and Wyoming represent some of the state's highest-need communities. Residents face substantial barriers to accessing comprehensive SUD prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services, including transportation limitations, workforce shortages, fragmented referral systems, and inadequate regional coordination. Prestera Health Services will lead the West Virginia Rural Health Consortium through the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP)-Planning initiative to establish a coordinated regional network that strengthens the continuum of SUD care across these four counties. The Consortium will bring together behavioral health providers, healthcare organizations, public health agencies, recovery organizations, emergency medical services, community-based organizations, and individuals with lived experience to develop a collaborative, sustainable approach to addressing opioid and other substance use disorders. The project will conduct a comprehensive regional needs and assets assessment to identify service gaps, workforce challenges, barriers to care, and opportunities for collaboration. Findings will inform the development of a data-driven strategic implementation plan focused on strengthening prevention, treatment, recovery support, harm reduction, workforce development, care coordination, and regional data sharing. Planning activities will emphasize expanding access to evidence-based practices, including medication-assisted treatment, peer recovery support services, integrated behavioral health care, and overdose prevention strategies. The Consortium will establish governance structures, strengthen referral networks, identify sustainable financing strategies, and develop performance measures to support future implementation and long-term regional collaboration. Throughout the planning process, partners will engage community members and individuals with lived experience to ensure priorities reflect local needs and promote equitable access to services. By creating a coordinated regional framework grounded in evidence-based practices and community priorities, the West Virginia Rural Health Consortium will strengthen system integration, improve access to high-quality SUD services, reduce overdose-related health disparities, and position the region for future RCORP implementation funding. This planning initiative will establish the infrastructure necessary to support sustainable, collaborative solutions that improve behavioral health outcomes for rural residents across southern West Virginia.
