Project REACCH-OUT: Rapid Engagement and Access at Cook County Health for Opioid Use Treatment aims to enhance the treatment and recovery of individuals diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) and substance use disorder (SUD) by implementing a rapid access, low barrier, and high capacity bridge clinic on Illinois Medical Campus in Chicago. This clinic will offer MAT services for vulnerable individuals who are unable to access immediate services and are therefore at a higher risk of relapsing and using illicit drugs. This clinic aims to serve 160 in Year1 and 240 unique individuals in Years 2-5 (1,120 total).
Cook County Health (CCH), WestCare, PrimeCare, and Lighthouse Institute-Chicago (LI-C) are partnering for this initiative. CCH is the safety-net healthcare provider for the 5.2 million residents of Chicago and suburban Cook County, IL, Haymarket Center is a community behavioral health service provider and LI-C is a subsect of Chestnut Health with an extensive evaluation background.
Our catchment areas for Project REACCH-OUT are the Cook County Jail, Stroger inpatient unit and Emergency Department. In 2014, the rate of hospitalizations due to substance use or mental health disorders in the target area was 195.4 per 100,000 persons while the rate in Chicago was 176.3 per 100,000. The total population of the target area is about 500,000 people and they tend to be minorities and of low socioeconomic status—16.5% of the population do not have insurance (versus 3.2% in Chicago) and 27.6% of individuals live below the poverty line (versus 20.9% in Chicago). Forty-five percent are male, and 10.4% are Non-Hispanic White, 78.6% Non-Hispanic Black, 0.5% Non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander, and 9.3% Hispanic. About 5% of people within the target population are foreign-born and 3.6% have limited English proficiency (CCH, 2018).