To respond to the opioid epidemic, Ingrid Johansen believes health systems like M Health Fairview have a responsibility to meet those living with addiction wherever they’re at.

“It’s absolutely essential that we participate in alleviating and addressing the root causes of the opioid epidemic, as well as work on secondary prevention efforts and help with harm reduction strategies,” says Johansen, director of community clinical care for M Health Fairview.

Earlier this year, her team partnered with the Steve Rummler HOPE Network to open a 24/7 Naloxone Access Point at M Health Fairview Lakes Medical Center in Wyoming, Minn. The access point offers free kits that include naloxone, which can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, and test strips, which are used to screen other drugs for the powerful opioid fentanyl. 

Similar access points are located at M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center, the Fairview Community Health and Wellness Hub, and M Health Fairview Health Commons in Cedar Riverside.

“It can be 3 o’clock in the morning, it could be 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and someone would be able to take home a kit,” Johansen says.

M Health Fairview providers are also working to support people facing addiction in the time between withdrawal and treatment, a delicate window when many return to substance use.

With philanthropic funding from the Constellation Fund, M Health Fairview purchased Bridge devices that are designed to help people through the first few days of withdrawal.

The thumb-drive-sized Bridge device sticks to the back of the ear, with wires on the device stimulating nerves connected to the amygdala, the part of the brain that activates someone’s “fight or flight” response. Stimulation decreases that response, which can help people better manage their withdrawal symptoms until they can safely begin treatment.

“It’s a way to get people to more easily and more effectively interact with treatment services of all kinds—medication and otherwise,” says Alex Hubbell, MD, the M Health Fairview outpatient program director for addiction medicine. “When people have an active addiction, and they’re asking for help, they need help as soon as possible.”