The South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA), CaroNova, and the South Carolina Center of Excellence in Addiction today announced a collaborative initiative to release the SC Implementation Toolkit for Emergency Department Buprenorphine Treatment. This evidence-based resource is designed to empower South Carolina hospitals and clinical teams with the tools needed to provide immediate, life-saving care for patients experiencing opioid use disorder (OUD).
“By expanding treatment for opioid use disorder into emergency departments, we are turning moments of crisis into opportunities for recovery,” said Sara Goldsby, Office Director of the S.C. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities’ Office of Substance Use Services. “This new resource gives hospitals ways to start care right away and connect patients to community providers who can continue their treatment, strengthening our state’s response to the opioid epidemic.”
This toolkit, developed by a team of South Carolina providers, researchers and policy experts, is a leverageable resource rather than a prescriptive requirement. It focuses on three actionable pillars intended to support hospitals in their existing mission to provide high-quality care:
- Responding to a Low-Barrier Imperative: Initiating buprenorphine in the emergency department (ED) to manage withdrawal and reduce the risk of subsequent fatal overdoses.
- Ensuring Continuity of Care: Leveraging the ED as a "recruiting space" to connect patients to ongoing community-based treatment within 24 to 48 hours.
- Cultivating Destigmatization: Promoting a culture of respect through person-first language and intervention strategies such as naloxone distribution.
The South Carolina Center of Excellence in Addiction — a partnership between Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the University of South Carolina, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (BHDD) and the Department of Public Health (DPH) — provides the scientific foundation for the initiative.
“Medication-assisted treatment, including buprenorphine, is an evidence-based approach to treating opioid use disorder,” said Lara Raymond, Director of the Center of Excellence in Addiction. “This toolkit provides practical strategies to support its use as an additional tool in the care continuum, helping emergency settings expand and strengthen treatment options for patients with opioid use disorder.”
The toolkit, which will be housed within CaroNova’s Opioid Resource Library, will be continuously maintained and utilized by healthcare organizations seeking evidence-informed strategies for OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery. Its release is also specifically timed to assist hospitals and local governments as they prepare for upcoming 2026 South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund (SCORF) application cycles. These settlement dollars provide a sustainable pathway for hospitals to fund critical program components, such as hiring Certified Peer Support Specialists to serve as patient navigators.
“At CaroNova, we believe meaningful change happens when evidence, partnership, and action come together,” said Julia Beck, President of CaroNova. “This toolkit equips hospitals with practical tools to initiate treatment, strengthen care connections, and advance a more coordinated, patient-centered response to the opioid crisis.”
“This toolkit underscores the possible role emergency departments can play within a much larger continuum of care,” echoed Melanie Matney, President of the SCHA Foundation. “While recovery requires coordination across healthcare, behavioral health, and community systems, when patients approach hospitals for life-saving emergency care, we have an opportunity to open the door to treatment by meeting patients where they are and partnering with others who support long-term recovery.”