Through a grant from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) to the Kentucky Pharmacists Association (KPhA), Harlan ARH Retail Pharmacy is assisting local patients at Addiction Recovery Care who are completing an opioid treatment program at Lydia’s House.

Lydia’s House is a 16-bed residential addiction treatment facility, including both medical and behavioral treatment. The facility staff includes a registered nurse, nurse practitioner and licensed counselor along with a peer support specialist who leads group therapy sessions. Harlan ARH pharmacist Stacey Thomas provides education on the medication naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan®, to Lydia’s House patients each month. In January, Thomas also provided a separate training for the staff of Lydia’s House. To date, Thomas has provided this service to 26 people.

“Naloxone works to reverse an overdose caused by opioids, such as heroin. By educating patients and providing them with naloxone, we give them one more tool in their rehabilitation toolbox,” stated Thomas. “Not only is there concern for relapse after rehabilitation, but our patients may have friends or family members with addiction as well. In an overdose event, giving naloxone is not a substitute for emergency medical treatment, but it increases survival rates.”

Through the KORE grant, the Harlan ARH Retail Pharmacy can also dispense naloxone free of charge to anyone who requests it. In order to receive naloxone, it is required that you receive written and verbal counseling from the pharmacist on its use. You will receive one box with two individual doses of Narcan® nasal spray after completing the necessary paperwork and pharmacist counseling.

If you have any questions, you can call Harlan ARH Retail Pharmacy at 606-573-8196. Harlan ARH Retail Pharmacy is open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. – noon, then 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.

To find out more about Lydia’s House and Addiction Recovery Care, call 606-638-0938 or visit www.arccenters.com.