Tri-Cities saw major shift in fentanyl overdose deaths in 2024. What’s behind it?
Lifesaving overdose reversal medication is making a dent in fentanyl-related deaths in the Tri-Cities, but both deaths and hospital visits are still up significantly over the past five years.
Preliminary data from Benton and Franklin county coroners show that 64 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses in the Tri-Cities area in 2024.
Fentanyl is a synthetic drug that is 100 times more potent than morphine and hundreds of times stronger than street-level heroin, federal officials have said.
Preliminary results can change as health department data is reconciled. Last year Tri-Cities coroners reported 65 overdose deaths for 2023, but Benton Franklin Health District tallied a total of 84. The 2024 numbers do not include suicide or overdoses that did not involve fentanyl.
The vast majority of all overdose deaths in the Tri-Cities are related to fentanyl or a combination of fentanyl and another drug.
Tri-Cities hospitals treated suspected overdoses more than 1,000 times in 2023. That is double the number of suspected overdoses treated five years ago, according to Washington Department of Health data.
Who is at risk?
Overdoses in the Tri-Cities continue to climb among women and people over age 50, according to Benton Franklin Health District data.
The age groups most likely to die from an overdose widened with more younger people dying than in previous years. Typically people age 40 and older were overdosing at a significantly higher rate, now overdoses are being seen at similar rates across the board.
People under 30, are still the group with the least number of deaths.
Men over 40 are still most at risk of fatal overdoses in the Tri-Cities, with the highest deaths among people working in construction, service and warehouse workers.
People considered unemployed represented a small portion of the deaths, though confirmed deaths of people experiencing homelessness did rise in 2024.
Reducing deaths
Although fentanyl deaths have been on a downward trend nationally, the West Coast has not seen the same drop in overdose deaths.
Washington state saw a 14% increase in drug overdose deaths between May 2023 and April 2024, according to a CDC analysis by Axios.
BFHD Healthy Living Manager Kelly Harnish told the Herald that they started to see overdose deaths in the Tri-Cities begin to decline later in the year.
Harnish is optimistic that this could mark the start of a downward trend in fatal overdoses, thanks to wider adoption of Narcan, or Naloxone, and education on how to use the overdose reversal medicine.
Preliminary county and statewide data typically isn’t available until later in the year when released by the Washington Department of Health.
People using fentanyl at home alone make up a large portion of overdose deaths because no one is there to help.
Harnish said that internal data tracking Narcan use in the region shows that overdoses are happening in all areas of the Tri-Cities. While the highest concentration is in densely populated urban areas, they are still seeing overdoses in suburban and rural areas as well.
“It is really striking to see the number of reversals,” she said.
Harnish said that increase in reversals indicates more fatal overdoses are being prevented.
“There’s certainly a lot more naloxone being used in our communities ... We can theorize that there are more lives being saved,” she said. “There was a big difference between the 2023 and ‘24 map.”
The health district is also now in a position to get more Narcan into the hands of community partners. They received significantly more doses from the state in 2024, at more than 2,800 units. The state also recently began allowing police and first responders to order Narcan on their own, freeing up doses the health department was providing.
Harnish said first responders will have direct access to order Narcan, which will enable them to ensure a steady supply for use in saving lives and for leaving a dose with the patient.
Community buy-in
The health district is hoping to take advantage of the momentum and create more community awareness of how to use Narcan, as well as broaden understanding of the factors that can lead to drug use.
The key to their education campaign will be compassion and understanding.
“There are a lot of factors that can lead to drug use, sometimes chronic pain, unstable housing ... there are a lot of issues that can create vulnerabilities for folks in our community so we can prevent drug use upstream,” Harnish said. “Our goal is really to help create some empathy and guide folks who are using drugs to be safer and now how to find it when they’re ready to seek help.”
The health department also has a public health and safety team working with their overdose fatality review team to figure out common factors in people who have died from overdoses in order to identify ways to help prevent more deaths.
“We’re really excited about moving into the next phase where we can implement some of the ideas,” Harnish said.
Those approaches will focus on identifying how to treat people struggling with substance use disorder, putting more focus on overall wellness and creating a more interconnected system to hand off patients from initial contact to services.
Recovery center
The Columbia Valley Center for Recovery is also set to open in early 2026. The Tri-Cities’ first public recovery center is designed to be a “no wrong door” facility and will offer treatment and diagnosis for substance use disorders and mental health issues.
The recovery center will offer four key services when it opens:
▪ Short-Term/Sobering — a 23-hour observation unit that focuses on stabilization and sobering up. This unit will be structured like a living room setting with recliners. Patients will be assessed here to determine longer care needs.
▪ Crisis Stabilization — This unit is designed for clients whose primary diagnosis is mental illness related. Services will include assessment, diagnosis and treatment for those without the need for longer stays. Typically they’ll spend five days or fewer here, but longer stays can happen voluntarily or by court order.
▪ Withdrawal Management — The unit will provide secure withdrawal management and stabilization services. Patients will be assessed, stabilized and cared for while detoxing. There will be two levels of detox, one with monitoring and patient administered medication and the other with 24-hour medical care by nurses and doctors.
▪ Residential Substance Use Treatment — This unit will be for longer-term substance use treatment. The length of the stay will depend on ongoing assessments and progress toward treatment goals.
