Sedgwick County is receiving a $50,000 grant from the state for a program to collect data on opioid-related deaths and develop initiatives to prevent opioid misuse.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is providing the three-year grant to six counties:  Sedgwick, Reno, Johnson, Wyandotte, Saline and Shawnee.  The grant will allow the Sedgwick County Health Department to hire a full-time epidemiologist who will collect data from law enforcement and local agencies, as well as the sheriff’s office, drug court and COMCARE.

Sedgwick County deputy health director Chris Steward told county commissioners Wednesday that the grant will allow the department to work with local prevention initiatives and develop new ones.  She said a dashboard on drug misuse will be added to the health department’s web page.

County commissioners voted unanimously to accept the grant.