Greater Portland Health is preparing to roll out a mobile medical van to help reach people at highest risk of dying from drug overdoses.

The organization received $80,000 for the new program from Cumberland County’s annual share of funds from a landmark settlement agreement with opioid manufacturers that will deliver an estimated $230 million to the state over the next 18 years. The service will launch early next month.

Last year, 607 Maine residents died from drug overdose. Although that marked a 16% decrease from 2022, when a record 723 overdose deaths were recorded, it was still the third-highest yearly total on record.

As the opioid crisis has gripped the nation over the past two decades, use has shifted from prescription drugs like OxyContin to heroin and now to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic that has proven especially deadly.

Liz Blackwell-Moore, public health director for Cumberland County, said the goal of the mobile van is to reach people who face barriers to accessing harm reduction and treatment services.

“We are thrilled to be able to provide some start-up funding for this important addition to the services available in Cumberland County,” she said.

Greater Portland Health is a nonprofit health center with 16 locations in Portland, South Portland and Westbrook that provides care to some of area’s most vulnerable communities.

Ann Tucker, the center’s CEO, said staff is still working out the details of where the mobile van will go and what its hours will be, but she said the need for outreach has increased. Within the last few months, clinicians have been doing outreach on foot in downtown Portland, Tucker said, and the van will be an extension of that.

Milestone Recovery in Portland, which operates a detox facility, also has a mobile outreach program, called HOME. MaineHealth also recently launched a new van to bring health care to the region’s homeless population.

“What’s so amazing about our team is that they are constantly finding different ways to connect with people,” Tucker said. “More and more, that means meeting people where they are at.”

The mobile medical van aims to reach people who are homeless and others at high risk, including immigrants and people seeking asylum, to connect them with harm reduction resources and treatment. That includes naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, transportation to medication for opioid use disorders (methadone and suboxone) and providing translated educational materials.

Tucker said the outreach team also will be able to connect community members to additional services and support both at our health centers and other community providers.

The funds came from Cumberland County’s share of settlement funds, which Maine is dividing into three categories. Fifty percent is allocated to the Maine Recovery Fund, which is controlled by a council that meets regularly; 30% goes directly to 39 eligible counties and municipalities; and 20% is reserved for the Maine Attorney General’s Office.

Cumberland County expects to receive $230,000 annually for the next 18 years. Its public health department conducted a community assessment and created an action plan for the allocation of the funds over the next four years, which includes prioritizing improving local response.

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