Highland Hospital has a new vending machine. But instead of soda, it has socks. Instead of chips, there’s condoms.
And it’s all free.
The “harm-reduction vending machine” launched in Highland’s emergency department this fall, offers basic supplies to anyone who needs it, with a focus on reaching those who might benefit from the substance-use services at the hospital’s Bridge program.
“We know that people who access Bridge and the emergency room need all these other things like hygiene kits, condoms, fentanyl test strips, pads and tampons, things of that sort, before we can even start talking about their substance use,” said Braunz Courtney, executive director of the HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County, or HEPPAC.
“We’re meeting folks where they’re at,” he said.
https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/27/highland-hospital-harm-reduction-vending-machine-oakland/
