Jail Addiction Program in Gainesville Has a Direct Line to Chiefland

A Gainesville Program With Nature Coast Reach

A nine-month-old partnership between the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, Meridian Healthcare and Wellpath is treating inmates with opioid use disorder inside the Alachua County Jail. The program itself operates in Gainesville. But Meridian Healthcare, the nonprofit behind the clinical side of the work, already runs a medication-assisted treatment location in Chiefland, meaning the same organization now expanding addiction care inside jail cells also serves patients in Levy County.

According to figures the Alachua County Sheriff’s Department released at a Nov. 6 event on Meridian’s Gainesville campus, 91 inmates have been screened since the program began in February, 51 have enrolled, 31 have received medical treatment and 23 have gotten peer support or counseling.

How the Jail Program Works

Screening starts at intake, when most inmates self-report substance use, according to Katie Burgins, a Wellpath health service administrator at the jail. Meridian staff visit the jail up to three times a week to conduct in-person nursing assessments followed by telehealth appointments with a medical provider. Approval for medication can take up to two weeks. Once cleared, a nurse delivers treatment to the jail, either a monthly injection or oral medication, paired with counseling.

Gade Duerksen, Meridian’s director of medication-assisted treatment, said the organization now has a mobile clinic vehicle that can serve its full 13-county coverage area. The near-term plan is to send that vehicle directly into local jails, prioritizing “communities without already established clinics,” Duerksen said.

Why Chiefland Matters Here

Meridian currently operates medication-assisted treatment sites in Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Live Oak, Callahan and Chiefland, according to Chief Operating Officer Ashley Brooks. Through the state’s Coordinated Opioid Recovery Network, the organization has also extended some services into Bradford and Baker counties. Leaders singled out Union County as a target for the new mobile unit, a smaller county without a permanent clinic, the same description that could apply to parts of Levy County outside Chiefland.

Nothing announced this week changes services at the Chiefland site or commits the mobile vehicle to Levy County jails. The jail-based medication program described in this report is specific to the Alachua County Jail. But the existence of a working clinic in Chiefland, combined with Meridian’s stated intent to extend mobile and jail-based treatment into smaller counties across its 13-county region, is the thread that connects this Gainesville announcement to Levy County residents who already rely on that clinic or who could see mobile outreach in the future.

The Harder Part Is After Release

Officials at the Nov. 6 event were candid that beginning treatment in jail is easier than keeping people in care once they’re out. Burgins and Brooks said Meridian schedules follow-up appointments before release and follows up by phone and letter with anyone who misses one. Caseworkers and peer support specialists help with housing and navigating the justice system, but Brooks said participation remains voluntary. “If they’re not ready, we can’t make them,” she said.

Laura Rivera of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said many people entering the jail system come from communities with limited health care access to begin with, and that incarceration is sometimes their first contact with any medical treatment. For Nature Coast communities like Chiefland that already depend on Meridian’s clinic network, that framing, treatment access shaped by where someone lives, not just whether they’re incarcerated, is the detail worth watching as the mobile unit’s route gets decided.

No public comment period or local funding vote is tied to this announcement. Florida & Cedar Key News will follow whether Meridian’s mobile clinic schedule extends into Levy County jails or communities as that plan develops.