Attorney General Brenna Bird announced at a press conference at Cherokee Regional Medical Center in Cherokee that her office is granting $775,550 over two years to expand the Billion Pill Pledge to eight more Iowa hospitals.
The eight hospitals are the following: Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, Clarke County Hospital in Osceola, Montgomery County Memorial Hospital in Red Oak, Jefferson County Health Center in Fairfield, Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in Fort Madison, Henry County Health Center in Mount Pleasant, and Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in West Burlington.
The Billion Pill Pledge, a program by Goldfinch Health, supports hospitals in using best practice surgical protocols and educating on ways to manage pain other than with opiates. Patients get a “Prepared for Surgery Kit” before surgery that helps with their experience and can work with a Goldfinch nurse for help before and after surgery.
“Programs that address the treatment, recovery, and prevention of opioid addiction in Iowa like the Billion Pill Pledge are saving lives,” said Attorney General Brenna Bird. “Hospitals like Cherokee Regional Medical Center are a true success story for the rest of the state. I’m happy to announce this grant today so eight more hospitals can join this incredible program and keep the number of highly addictive opioid pills out of Iowans’ homes.”
Attorney General Bird was joined at the press conference by John Greenwood, cofounder of Goldfinch, Cherokee Regional Medical Center CEO and President Gary Jordan, and surgeon Dr. John Greaves. Cherokee Regional Hospital is a current member of the Billion Pill Pledge.
“We are excited for the opportunity to help additional hospitals in the state of Iowa with the expanded funding through Attorney General Bird’s office,” said John Greenwood, cofounder of Goldfinch Health. “The Billion Pill Pledge is on a mission to improve pain management and reduce our reliance on opioids by a billion pills. Deploying opioid settlement funds to address a primary access point of opioid addiction, we have demonstrated a reduction in the need for opioid refills by more than 80% and hospital readmissions by more than 75%. These peer-reviewed results would not be possible without the support of Attorney General Bird and the participating Iowa Hospitals like Cherokee.”
“All of us at Cherokee Regional Medical Center are proud of the work we have done since implementing the Billion Pill Pledge program several years ago,” said Gary Jordan, CEO/ President of Cherokee Regional Medical Center. “These efforts have resulted in significant opioid prescription reduction, benefiting not only our patients but also our community as a whole. We are pleased to learn of Attorney General Bird’s plan to release additional funding from her office’s Opioid Settlement Fund. This will provide other hospitals throughout the state the opportunity to take advantage of these proven opioid reduction tactics.”
For more information about the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Opioid Grant Funding program, email questions to opioidfunding@ag.iowa.gov or contact the office through the website here.
If you want to apply for opioid grant funding, you can do so here.
