PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Health Department seeks to hire three people to staff its expanded and relocated Harm Reduction Health Center but needs to develop some methods of measuring the program’s success or failure first.
The commissioners heard a presentation at their Monday work session from Kevin LoPiccolo, county health and human services director, and Jenny Oppelt, deputy director, regarding hiring an administrative specialist, public health support specialist and harm reduction program coordinator.
The center is moving from 111 E. Third St. to 325½ W. Second St., the former site of CrossFit ThunderRidge. The five-year lease began July 1 and the 5,000-square-foot center is expected to be opened this fall.
The center provides education, supportive services, health services, supply distribution, syringe services and disposal.
It also will house the HRHC mobile van and store other HHS items that are now stored at Fairchild International Airport.
“We’re actually trying to plan for the 2024 budget and we need some positions approved in order to accomplish that goal,” LoPiccolo told the commissioners on Monday.
The department is reassigning a staff member from public health to harm reduction and also wants to hire a harm reduction center coordinator; the public health specialist will shift to a dual role including harm reduction, so another administrative specialist is necessary, LoPiccolo said.
Funding could come from a variety of yet-to-be-decided sources, including foundational public health service grants and other programs, opioid settlement money and up to $17,000 from the general fund.
“So we’ve been working with (human resources) on moving forward with human resources for when the (2024 budget) is approved to move forward with trying to hire these positions for the downtown building,” LoPiccolo said.
Commissioner Randy Johnson said, “Five years from now, how am I going to know how I am doing? It would be really nice to have some benchmarks so I, and the general public, know.
“It’s always amazing when we have benchmarks. You can say, hey, we are making progress or not.”
Oppelt said a variety of metrics can be used, such as the numbers of overdoses, fatal overdoses, overdoses that are responded to by EMS, hospital engagement in folks, numbers of people who are engaging in treatment services, number of participants who are engaging in the harm reduction health center in general, or the types of supplies that are being distributed.
Commissioner Mark Ozias agreed with Johnson.
“I think that you’ve got a sympathetic board and board of health in terms of this effort but not sufficient awareness or understanding in the public about what we are doing and what we are hoping to accomplish and what that should look like,” Ozias said.
Oppelt agreed it “would be really helpful to be able to track for ourselves and most especially to talk to the public about.
“So, given that, would you commissioners like to see the goals and the measurements and the success measurements are for harm reduction health center laid out in a little more detail before moving ahead with this investment? ” she asked.
“Once we get a coordinator, they can come back and show all those measurements.”
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
