Naloxone Vending Machine Installed at Justice Center

Naloxone Vending Machine Installed at Justice Center

MetroHealth's Office of Opioid Safety is excited to announce that a harm reduction vending machine has been added to the Justice Center Complex in downtown Cleveland. Since early October, the machine has been stocked with naloxone - the life-saving opioid overdose antidote - along with additional health and harm reduction supplies such as condoms, pregnancy tests, hygiene kits, socks, and fentanyl test strip kits.

The vending machine is located inside the building's Ontario Street entrance. The public can use the PIN posted on the machine and follow instructions to access naloxone and other supplies 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This is the second harm reduction vending machine that the Office of Opioid Safety has installed, the first contracted by the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County. In December 2022, the first vending machine was installed at Main Campus outside the Emergency Department, near the F elevator.

Since its installation, over 1,200 items have been accessed from the MetroHealth vending machine, said Joan Papp, MD, Medical Director, Office of Opioid Safety. Kloxxado, one of the brand names for naloxone, has been the most retrieved product. The same items are stocked in each machine.

"It's a way people can very easily - and privately - access these resources," said Stephanie Shorts, the Project DAWN coordinator. "People are using it mostly when the Project DAWNmobile unit isn't open, which is what we were hoping for."

The Office of Opioid Safety has provided services at the Justice Center since 2017. In the years since MetroHealth assumed medical operations at the jail in 2019, services have expanded to include more addiction medicine care.

The Opioid Safety team began working with Danae DiRocco, MD, Associate Medical Director of Addictions at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, on efforts to acquire funds for a harm reduction vending machine for the jail. Funding from the Cleveland chapter of The Links, Inc., a national volunteer service organization, made that possible. One-third of all opioid users are estimated to be incarcerated annually with estimates of 40% of those at CCC having an identified substance use disorder, said Dr. DiRocco.

National data shows that those recently released from jail or treatment are among those at highest risk for overdose and overdose death, Dr. DiRocco said.

"Providing naloxone to patients in jail and those recently released has proved difficult logistically," she said.

Vending machine items were accessed more than 60 times in the first three weeks, making it busier than the Main Campus location. While other items are popular, Narcan, another brand name for naloxone, has been the most retrieved at the Justice Center.

Community interest in having harm reduction vending machines at other locations has grown. Once additional funding is identified, more machines will be installed throughout the area. Potential sites include the Juvenile Justice Center on Quincy Avenue and MetroHealth ambulatory sites.

The Project DAWN mobile unit is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Main Campus. Call 216-778-5677 for information.