Mary Alice Reporting –
Following a settlement, Ohio is set to grant money to community and government organizations following an application process.
Ohio reached an $808 million agreement with the three largest opioid distributors, Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, and the state has finalized a plan for dispersing the money.
The first round of dollars will be seen in 2024 and Chairman of OneOhio’s Region 11 Board Kerry Metzger says the group has decided to spread the funding across the multiple counties that make up the region, which includes Tuscarawas, Carroll, Harrison, Holmes, Columbiana, Jefferson, and Belmont counties.–
“What the region 11 will do is once applications are into the state, the region will then have access to the portal to pull out all the applications of the counties within region 11. We will then go through all those different requests. We will then make a decision to prioritize which ones we would like to see funded in the first round. The state then will make the final decision.”
The applications will be given points and Metzger notes that if more groups collaborate for matching dollars, the more points their request will receive.
The opioid settlement money will come in approximately 18 cycles, the dollar amount decreasing each time.
Metzger adds that a varied amount will also be given to all municipalities within the state for use toward combating opioids and addiction.
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