Wednesday, January 15, 2025
1/15/2025
Meharry Medical College (MMC) has been serving underserved populations in Nashville since 1876. The Meharry Academic Medical Center is the largest HBCU medical center in the country with a mission of eliminating health disparities. We will build on this extensive experience to provide cutting edge evidence based care designed for underserved populations through the creation of the Meharry Opioid Response and Recovery (MORRE) Center. Through the MORRE we will integrate the existing near full continuum of care for people with opioid use disorder (OUD) to provide the full cascade of OUD services to people in Nashville Tennessee and surrounding counties with a focus on serving Black residents and the unhoused population. Currently, Meharry is home to the Meharry Addiction Clinic (MAC) in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and the Elam Mental Health Center (EMHC) in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. The MAC consists of a low threshold medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) clinic that provides MOUD along with a full continuum of primary care services designed for people who use drugs (PWUD) both through a stationary and a mobile clinic. The MAC also provides harm reduction outreach and syringe service programming focusing on Black and unhoused drug using communities in the city. The EMHC has been the safety net substance use disorder provider for the city since 1976. The EMHC provides intensive outpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment, including treatment for pregnant women and women with children. The creation of the MORRE Center will further strengthen the integration of these two clinics within Meharry Medical College. Further, to complete the continuum of care we will partner with the only methadone provider in the city, as well as recovery support service providers, including recovery housing. With the requested funding we will provide a full continuum of care for people with OUD and solidify and augment the current system of care for people with OUD in Nashville. Finally, by implementing this program within an academic medical center students, residents and fellows trained through MMC will be ready to meet the challenges of the opioid epidemic in their own practices, exponentiating the impact of this important project.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).