ANDERSON – Aspire Indiana Health is considering taking over the needle exchange program in Madison County.
Aspire has been working with Indiana University professor Brad Ray on provisions of the program that will likely be called Harm Reduction.
Ray met with the Aspire board of directors in November and received an update on Thursday about progress on implementing a local program.
Syd Ehmke, chief operating officer, said the Quality Committee will meet on Feb. 21 to hear details of a needle exchange program.
Information will be provided to the full board on Feb. 22.
Duane Hoak, board chairman, said no vote will be taken until March on implementing the Harm Reduction program.
Hoak said a committee has been asked to respond to the executive committee and full Aspire board on 12 items of concern in starting the program.
Jerry Landers, executive director of Aspire, said the program being considered will be more than a needle exchange, but will encourage people to get into treatment programs.
Landers said Aspire doesn’t operate a needle exchange program in any other Indiana county.
Ehmke said Aspire has hired a nurse to work directly with hepatitis C patients. She said there is a waiting list of 34 people to be tested for hepatitis C.
Landers said Aspire recently received a $110,000 grant from the Indiana State Department of Health to do HIV testing in 32 counties.
“Testing is vital,” he said. “Twenty-five percent of the population being tested don’t know that they are HIV positive.”
The Madison County Health Department started the needle exchange program in August 2015 when a public health emergency was declared on concerns of the spread of hepatitis C and HIV in the county. Last August the Madison County Council voted to prohibit the use of local tax dollars to manage the program.
The Madison County Board of Health voted earlier this month to begin negotiations on a contract for the program's operation.
Stephenie Grimes, administrator for the Madison County Health Department, said a contract between the not-for-profit organization will have to be signed with the Madison County commissioners.
She said Aspire will report directly to the Indiana State Department of Health.
If a contract is approved by the county commissioners, the Indiana State Department of Health has to be notified of the change of the operation from the Madison County Health Department to the new entity.
Grimes said only seven people have been tested for hepatitis C in the county since the program ended in August.
“People are going back to sharing needles,” she said.
The Madison County commissioners last year voted to extend the program through June.
“We approved the needle exchange program through June,” John Richwine, president of the Madison County Board of Commissioners, said previously. “This is a formality.”
Richwine said he supports a not-for-profit taking over the needle exchange program and expects it to be extended beyond June.
The Madison County Council last August adopted an ordinance prohibiting the use of county funds or donations and gifts to purchase the needles and the necessary supplies.
The Indiana State Department of Health guidelines allows for a county to contract with a nonprofit to operate a needle exchange program.
“In this instance, the county or local health department must take official action to approve the nonprofit as evidenced by a board resolution or equivalent,” the guidelines read. “Relationships with third party nonprofits should be outlined in detail in a contract.”
That contract requires the nonprofit to comply with all of the state guidelines for the operation of the program and reporting requirements to the Indiana State Board of Health.