By Chapel Taylor-Olsen, BA, RN
“I wanted to move back to Price, but before I could even think about it, I had to make sure there was help here,” a client of Operation Recovery recently told me (their nurse) as they expressed their gratitude for the presence of the opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment program now available in Carbon County.
For a long time, there were no options for individuals with OUD in Carbon County. Operation Recovery began in 2018 with a van full of clients that were bussed over the mountain to dose every single day at Project Reality in Provo. Operation Recovery Program Director Carolshene Powell likes to brag that, “We only ever hit one deer!”
In those early days, the hope was that maybe, over time, we could build up to 80 clients. Now, with our own facility located in Price (77 South 600 East, Suite C), we have built our program to an average of about 160 clients, and there are so many more in our community who still need help. This March, Operation Recovery’s physical location will celebrate its five-year anniversary.
Carbon and Emery counties continue to be “hot spots” for OUD and overdoses. So many in our community have been touched by this tragic epidemic. It’s important to realize that OUD could happen to anyone.
Police officer Hyrum Cox, who sees OUD in his work, said, “I’ve seen it in every neighborhood, in every home. It doesn’t matter if it is a low-income housing development, or a trailer park, or a BYU dorm, or mansion – I’ve seen it everywhere.” (Cox, 2019, p. 10).
People who seek treatment at Operation Recovery arrive every morning, Monday through Saturday, to receive the daily medication that helps rebalance their brain chemistry, decrease cravings, maintain recovery, and get their lives back. Our doors open in the dark of 6 a.m. Seeking this kind of treatment is hard work and takes a great deal of dedication.
Operation Recovery is unique in our reach throughout the region. As a part of Four Corners Community Behavioral Health (FCCBH), we are able to treat our clients for both their substance use disorder and their co-occurring mental health disorders. This is the gold standard treatment recommended by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, but it is not widely available at all OUD treatment programs.
We treat individuals on Medicare, Medicaid, many insurances and have self-pay options. Four Corners also pays for busses that go out into our rural community to make it easier for everyone to access treatment.
Operation Recovery was the first OUD treatment program in the state of Utah to build a working relationship with the county sheriff’s office to facilitate continuing treatment for inmates, highlighting our local law enforcements commitment to recovery in our community. This standard has now been made into a state law, but our counties have been ahead of their time and clients who serve time in Carbon or Emery County jails can continue receiving this lifesaving treatment.
Southeast Utah is also a “hot spot” for the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). During treatment, Operation Recovery providers monitor clients’ overall health and exposure to tuberculosis, syphilis, HIV and HCV. About 44% of Operation Recovery’s clients screen positive for HCV, meaning that they have been exposed to the virus.
Starting about a year ago, we began treating clients who have active HCV infections with anti-viral medications that have an extremely high cure rate. So far, all of the clients that we have treated at our facility have been able to clear the virus and are now cured. This extends the lives of our clients, stops the spread of HCV locally and makes our whole community healthier.
FCCBH’s Operation Recovery program still has much work to do, but we are so proud of how far we have come. If you or someone you know would like to discuss options for treatment of opioid use disorder, please call us at (435) 613-7289.
Operation Recovery
77 South 600 East, Suite C
Price, Utah
(435) 613-7289
https://www.fourcornersbh.com/medical-services
References
Cox, H. (2019, October 31). Interview with Hyrum Cox [Interview]. Informing the National Narrative Stories of Utah’s Opioid Crisis. USU Digital History Collections. https://digital.lib.usu.edu/digital/collection/p16944coll134/search/searchterm/Hyrum/field/title/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort/ad/asc