Community News

 

BUNCOMBE COUNTY – August 29, 2024 – On August 31^st, Buncombe County held an Overdose Awareness Day ceremony at Carrier Park to create more public awareness for this public health problem and to promote local resources to prevent further overdoses and deaths. There were 151 drug overdose deaths in Buncombe County in 2022, almost all were unintentional, according to data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Someone is present at about 40% of overdose deaths. Therefore, overdose deaths can be prevented by the administration of naloxone, a medicine that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.

Buncombe County receives support from the $29 million opioid settlement fund for programs that are designed to reduce opioid misuse and overdose deaths. The funding will be distributed over the next 14 years. Some of the programs include harm reduction services, naloxone distribution, the post overdose response team, the community paramedic program, and the community reentry team.

Buncombe County Health and Human Services has a harm reduction program at their 40 Coxe Avenue office in Asheville. Here are some features of the program:

• Provides Fentanyl and Xylazine tests strips
• Provides harm reduction supplies
• Provides referrals for medical care and community resources
• Has monthly classes for overdose reversal training

Dr. Shuchin Shukla, Buncombe County’s Medical Substance Use Professional, says ““Opioid use disorder, addiction, and overdose are absolutely preventable and treatable medical conditions. It is up to all of us to work together to improve access to these critical resources for those who are most vulnerable.”

Here’s some local resources:

• The suicide hotline is open anytime, call 9-8-8
• For a medical emergency, call 9-1-1
• For primary health care and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), call Appalachian Mountain Health at 828-257-4745, Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) at 828-257-4730, or Western North Carolina Community Health Services (WNCCHS) at 828-285-0622
• For a behavioral health crisis hot line, call VAYA Health at 800-849-6127
• United Way sponsors a referral line for support services in Buncombe County and western North Carolina, call 2-1-1

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

BUNCOMBE COUNTY – September 4, 2024 – Almost 80 thousand Buncombe County residents are over the age of 60, representing about 30% of the population. By 2041, 1 out of 4 adults in Buncombe County will be age 65 and older, according to a Community Engagement Needs Assessment by the Deerfield Charitable Foundation this year. Almost 3 million North Carolina residents will be age 65 or older in 2042, according to a NC Health and Human Services report. Last year, Governor Cooper created an executive order for North Carolina to be an age-friendly state. Therefore, the needs of seniors in North Carolina including Buncombe County will require more specialized structures, services, and policies.

It is important to raise awareness of issues that impact seniors. On May 23^rd, Buncombe County held an Age-Friendly Summit. On June 13^th, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day brought partner organizations and people together to discuss solutions locally. This summer a state-sponsored working group will present 100 recommendations to achieve an age-friendly state.

Here’s some important health and social issues that affect seniors:

• Chronic disease management and prevention
• Social isolation
• Abuse and neglect
• Financial exploitation

Here’s some specialized structures, services, and policies that will support seniors:

• Aging in place
• Safe and affordable housing
• Navigation of services and access to care
• Supporting caregivers
• Transportation
• Adult day care centers

Billie Breeden, age-friendly coordinator for Buncombe County DHHS’s Adult and Aging Services, told Mountain Xpress “People need to know all the wonderful things that aging services providers do on a daily basis to support older adults.”

Funding for programs that support seniors are flat despite the growing need for this growing population group. Many of these programs are funded through state, county, and federal allocations. Nongovernmental charitable organizations try to fill in the gaps. Buncombe County receives around $1.7 million each year for aging services from the state and federal government. The county government contributes another one-half million dollars.

In March, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders proposed more federal funding for seniors from $2 billion to $4.6 billion to address the upswing in transportation, nutrition services and other needs older adults will have in the coming decades.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – September 4, 2024 – The winter surge of respiratory infections, like COVID-19, has passed. However, over the past 3 years, COVID-19 infections have also surged in August.

The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 24^th shows:  

• 2% of the deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the 3^rd lowest level of 6 groups and decreased since last week.
• Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are moderate in North Carolina, between 3-4% of all visits and stable since last week.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 21^st shows:

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is between 80-100%, the highest level of 5 groups.
• The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample is between -99 to -10%, the lowest level of 2 groups with a negative rate of change.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

WASHINGTON, DC – August 15, 2024 – The winter surge of respiratory infections, like COVID-19, has passed. However, over the past 3 years, COVID infections have also surged in August. This year appears to be no different than the previous three. COVID is surging in at least 84 countries, according to the World Health Organization, including the Paris Olympics.

There is less of a concern of getting sick with COVID-19 because a lot of people have already been infected with COVID or have been vaccinated, or both. Hospitals aren’t as full of seriously ill COVID patients and there have been fewer deaths. However, vaccine protection wanes over time and newer variants evolve to evade the body’s defenses. Persons in higher risk groups, like people ages 65 and older, with chronic health conditions and weakened immune systems, are more likely to develop severe COVID illness. Therefore, further surges can be reduced, and at-risk groups can be protected, with testing and keeping current with vaccination.

Americans will be able to obtain free at-home COVID tests from the federal government again. Persons will be able order up to 4 tests at COVIDtest.gov beginning in late September. Each test can detect the most common recent variants. 900 million home tests have been distributed to Americans in the past 3 years. The announcement was made on August 23^rd.

The previous day, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna pharmaceutical companies. They will be available within days of the announcement. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends these latest doses for everyone 6 months and older. They will target the most common recent variants and reduce the risk of persons becoming severely ill. The timing is optimal to protect against getting sick during the winter surge of respiratory illness, when it is more likely to spread as more people are indoors.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

RALEIGH, NC – August 7, 2024 – On last week’s health report, I discussed how every hospital in North Carolina will forgive medical debt. This was in response to Governor Cooper’s recent initiative to increase federal payments to participating NC hospitals who agree to forgive medical debt for low- and middle-income patients. Here’s a press release summarizing his initiative:  https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/08/12/north-carolina-hospitals-sign-relieve-medical-debt

In response to a deluge of questions about this new state initiative, I have decided to repeat this health report and include some more information for those people who want to better understand the program.

Each of the state’s 99 hospitals have signed up for a new state program to reduce medical debt. On July 1^st, Governor Cooper announced an initiative to increase federal payments to participating hospitals who agree to forgive medical debt for low- and middle-income patients. The sign-up deadline for hospitals was August 9^th. The medical debt program is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States. Uncollectible medical debt dating back to 2014 will be forgiven.

Our local hospitals, Mission Hospital, AdventHealth Hendersonville, and Pardee Memorial Hospital have signed on. The complete list of hospitals is on a hyperlink in the press release.

There is a medical debt crisis in North Carolina. According to 2022 credit bureau data analyzed by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit organization that shapes economic and social policy through research, 20% of North Carolina’s residents has medical debt in collections, the fourth highest state in the country. Black and Hispanic persons and people living in rural areas are disproportionately affected by having medical debt.

The medical debt program will be funded by federal money coming from the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, or HASP, because the state Medicaid program shifted to managed care. It is estimated that 2 million low- and middle-income North Carolinians will have $4 billion of medical debt forgiven.

A list of frequently asked questions is at this website: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/medicaldebt  Former patients do not have to take any action now, because the hospitals will work with a third-party vendor to identify who is eligible for relief.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – August 28, 2024 – The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 17^th shows:  

• Between 2-3% of the deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the 3^rd lowest level of 6 groups and increased since last week.
• Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are moderate in North Carolina, between 3-4% of all visits and stable since last week.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 14^th shows:

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is between 80-100%, the highest level of 5 groups.
• The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample has increased from the previous week to between 10-99%, the middle level of 3 groups with a positive rate of change.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour