New plan targets Thurston County’s overdose crisis

The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) unanimously approved the 2025 Opioid Response Plan, during the Board of Health (BOH) meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.

The expanded blueprint addresses the escalating overdose incidents through expanded strategies in prevention, treatment, crisis responses and targeted support for vulnerable populations. 

“The plan is not just on paper,” said Katie Strozyk, the county’s Opioid and Overdose Response Program Manager.

“It’s something that we’re out and about doing in the community. It’s impacting folks here in Thurston County, that is also saving lives on a daily basis.” 

New priorities 

The revised plan stems from public input collected in 2024, which sought to better align approaches with the growing opioid crisis and engage underrepresented voices. 

“We realized that we really needed to look at community input, aligning with state plans, and things like that on a more frequent basis,” Strozyk explained. 

In late 2024, an online survey generated 101 responses. 

The survey uncovered widespread support for the county’s initiatives, while voicing out service gaps. 

Respondents emphasized a need for expanded peer support programs and better outreach to older adults. 

The findings led to the inclusion of seniors as a priority demographic. 

“A lot of folks said that they really liked what we were doing,” Strozyk said.

“Some of the remarks had an emphasis on wanting to increase education and services, specifically for younger adults under 18, as well as older adults 65 and over.” 

New goals and strategies 

The 2025 plan sets forth 29 targeted strategies, grouped into four areas: prevention, treatment, overdose intervention, and services for pregnant and parenting populations. 

While Strozyk did not enumerate all strategies during the discussion, she emphasized their structured implementation. 

The plan incorporates five strategic goals: 

1. Prevent opioid misuse and opioid use disorder. 
2. Expand access to treatment and recovery support services. 
3. Prevent overdose fatalities. 
4. Use data to inform response strategies. 
5. Prioritize impacted populations and address stigma, action workgroups tackle specific areas, such as: 

1.  Prevention 
   • Six strategies focus on youth-led education, improved awareness of safe medication storage, and expanded harm reduction resources. 
2. Treatment 
   • Eight initiatives aim to improve access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), enhance coordination for youth services, and expand peer and community health worker programs. 
3. Overdose 
   • Ten strategies emphasize naloxone distribution, community education on overdose response, and better post-overdose support services. 
4. Pregnant and Parenting Populations
   • Five targeted initiatives include support for maternal health, addressing stigma in care, and integrating best practices for human milk feeding. 

“All of the strategies within the response plan are assigned to an action-oriented work group,” Strozyk said. “Each of those work groups … set the measurable goals, what they want to do, how they’re going to do it, (and) when they’re going to do it in the year.” 

This year’s revisions included significant updates, such as reformatting the plan for a successful targeting of long-term goals established by a 2018 BOH resolution. 

The document now integrates objectives with its five foundational goals, while cross-referencing the assigned work groups for clarity. 

Another update is on stigma reduction efforts and responses to poly-substance use, a growing trend where individuals use multiple drugs concurrently. 

“A lot of folks also pointed out that (we need) further inclusion of poly-substance use, recognizing that a lot of our folks in the community don’t just use one drug,” Strozyk added. 

2024 efforts recognized 

Last year, the county distributed more than 3,225 naloxone kits through its syringe services program and trained more than 100 residents in overdose response. 

Naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication, has been one of the focuses of the county’s strategy. 

“Getting naloxone into the hands of people who are actively using drugs saves the most lives,” Strozyk said.

“Drug users save the most lives in our community, above law enforcement, above EMS, above everyone else.” 

At the syringe services program alone, officials recorded 427 overdose reversals in 2024 based on self-reported data from individuals who received naloxone kits. 

According to Strozyk, the county also conducted community-wide education campaigns and held events, such as the opioid response forum, which it attracted more than 125 attendees. 

The BoCC recognized the impact of BOH’s plan in addressing the opioid crisis with its unanimous approval of the expanded plan.