The OneOhio Foundation is a private, non-profit organization tasked with distributing 55% of the funds Ohio will receive from the pharmaceutical industry as a consequence of its role in the national opioid epidemic. The foundation will fund projects across 19 regions established in the state, distributing nearly $51.2 million in opioid settlement funds.
Hamilton is within Region 14, which includes Butler, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Greene, Madison and Warren counties, and the OneOhio Recovery Foundation has earmarked $7.1 million to be distributed within Region 14.
Agencies need to register with the OneOhio Grant Portal before submitting their proposals for funding.
Daniel Tidyman, Hamilton city clerk and special projects manager, said there is a list of items he, fire chief Thomas Eikelberger and assistant fire chief Gerald Wirtz have included in their proposal, the highest of priorities being 14 Lifepak 35 monitors. Each monitor, which combine defibrillators and heart monitors, is $60,000 per unit.
The monitors, Tidyman said, would be “the most important items” in the city’s request.
Other items the city is seeking financial support for include eight motorized Stryker StairChairs ($20,000 per unit), one to three medic units (which range from $195,000 to $225,000 each), eight Lucas devices ($20,000 per unit), and 15 AED devices ($3,000 each).
There is additional equipment the city will consider seeking funds for, Tidyman said.
The OneOhio grants do not require a local match.
Unintentional overdose deaths have fluctuated in the past few years in Butler County after growing to 260 in 2017, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s latest Unintentional Drug Overdose Report. From 2018 to 2022, Butler County had the seventh-most overdose deaths, and Clark County had the 15th-most.
The grant portal opened last month, and agencies and organizations have been able to register with the portal since March. Hamilton Mayor Pat Moeller, the OneOhio Region 14 chair, said he hopes multiple city and Butler County organizations are seeking this funding.
“Region 14 gets the largest amount of money than any other region in the state of Ohio,” he said, “and we’re the largest county in the region, and we’re the largest city in the largest county in the region. I sincerely hope Hamilton and Butler County does get multiple grants out of the $7.1 million.”
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