HOWELL, Mich. – Residents in Southeast Michigan can now get free Narcan kits from a vending machine at a hospital thanks to an initiative aimed at preventing overdose deaths.
In a partnership between Trinity Health Livingston Hospital and the Livingston County Community Mental Health Authority (CMH), a Narcan vending machine was installed and stocked at the hospital.
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The vending machine is inside the main lobby of the hospital, to the right of the registration desk.
This project was funded by a state opioid response grant through the Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan that was provided to CMH.
This year, CMH gave out 1,500 Narcan boxes through vending machines and requests from the community. Now, the health authority is working with different organizations, like the hospital, to make Narcan more accessible.
“The hospital is excited to team up with the Livingston County Community Mental Health Authority to address a real and prevalent health issue amongst local residents,” said Shekinah Singletery, director of Community Health and Well-Being at Trinity Health Ann Arbor and Trinity Health Livingston. “We know the importance of this initiative and how it will offer local residents unrestricted access to a potentially lifesaving resource.”
Narcan temporarily reverses the effects of heroin, morphine, oxycodone, methadone, fentanyl, hydrocodone, codeine, hydromorphone, and buprenorphine.
From March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2024, more than 400 people were treated in the emergency department or admitted to the hospital for opioid intoxication, according to the Livingston County Health Department.
