Mar 23, 2018 By Steve Barrett 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – The Greene County Opioid Overdose Task Force will host a “Community Report-Out” event on Monday, March 26 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Greene County Fairgrounds.

The meeting will be held in the upstairs room of the 4-H Building at the fairgrounds, which is located at 107 Fairgrounds Road in Waynesburg.

The public is invited to attend the meeting, which will provide insight into the opioid crisis as well as the plans for the task force that was established in response to the growing problem of opioid overdose in the community.

Speakers at the meeting will include a representative from the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania; task force chairs and Greene County Commissioners Blair Zimmerman, Dave Coder, and Archie Trader; and Ashley Potts, MSW and recovery advocate.

The commissioners extended an invitation during a meeting in January to 42 people who have expressed an interest in joining the local task force.

In a previous interview, Commissioner Blair Zimmerman said the commissioners recognized the need to involve a greater cross-section from the community to be a part of the task force that was formed in 2016.

At its inception, the task force consisted primarily of human service professionals and local government officials; however, with the help of the University of Pittsburgh’s Overdose Prevention Research Program, the task force has now moved beyond its previous limited membership to include community members with a variety of experiences.

“The University of Pittsburgh initially approached us about creating the task force and said, ‘You control the process,'” Zimmerman said. “We came to realize that to be effective we had to involve more people with diverse backgrounds, such as educators and those in law enforcement.”

Included on the January invite list were the three commissioners and county’s coroner, sheriff and district attorney, as well as representatives from the state police, Cumberland Township police and the Southwest Regional Police Force.

Additionally, representatives from the medical profession (EMS Southwest, a local physician, a retired pharmacist, employees of The Care Center, Value Behavioral Heath and Washington Health Systems-Greene, and a public health nurse) were invited to join the task force.

Zimmerman explained that by expanding the task force “members can be divided into smaller groups which allows for better discussion and problem-solving.”

County Chief Clerk Jeff Marshall said the program evaluation and research unit of the University of Pittsburgh’s pharmacy school is facilitating the task force.

The goal of the local opioid task force, Marshall said, is to work with the county’s human services program, the Coalition for a Brighter Greene, Steps Inside and other local entities and programs to “take a snapshot of the county’s current image” regarding the opioid crisis, and coordinate strategies to address a wide array of issues impacted by opioid use, including public health and safety.

For more information about the meeting and/or the task force, contact Megan Neuf, project coordinator for pharmacy and therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, by calling 412-383-4175 or by emailing mln51@pitt.edu.