LCHM Fall 2017 - 19

L C M E D S O C .O R G

PENNSYLVANIA TO GET

$26.5 MILLION

in Federal Grants to Combat Opioid Abuse

he U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) is awarding
grants totaling $485 million to help
states, the District of Columbia,
and U.S. territories combat the opioid
abuse crisis. The funding is the first of two
rounds of grants, with the second round
to occur in 2018.

Pennsylvania will receive $26.5 million
in grants, the fourth largest grant amount
provided for by the 21st Century Cures
Act, bipartisan legislation signed into law
in December 2016.
HHS says that states and territories were
awarded funds based on rates of overdose
deaths and unmet need for opioid addiction
treatment. Pennsylvania has been hard hit
by the crisis. Nationally, there were 33,000
heroin and opioid deaths in 2015, and 3,500
of those deaths occurred in Pennsylvania.
HHS Secretary Tom Price, M.D., sent
a letter to governors, announcing the
grants and providing more details on the
administration's plans to combat opioid
abuse. "We cannot continue to lose our
nation's citizens to addiction," wrote Sec.
Price. "Through a sustained focus on people,
patients, and partnerships, I am confident
that together we can turn the tide on this
public health crisis."
In an April 24 news release, Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf offered details on how the
commonwealth plans to use the grant funding. The state's initial strategies will include:

EXPANDING Pennsylvania's integration of its
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program data at
the point-of-care, promoting ease-of-use of
this data in clinical decision-making.
PROVIDING clinically appropriate treatment
services to 6,000 individuals who are uninsured or underinsured.
EXPANDING implementation of warm hand-off
referral practices to increase the number of patients transferred directly from the emergency
department to substance use treatment.
EXPANDING treatment capacity for Medication
Assisted Treatment for opioid use disorder.
IMPROVING quality of prescribing practices
through prescriber education.
INCREASING the number of youth receiving
evidence-based prevention and life skills
education programs.
The state plans to establish eight treatment hubs, with physicians and medical
professionals as well as other community
support services working together to assist
those with substance use disorders, reports
Transforming Health.
FROM PAMED
https://www.pamedsoc.org/tools-you-can-use/
topics/opioids/general/CuresActGrant?utm_
source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=email&utm_
term=Griffiths&utm_campaign=Dose%20
%2D%204%2F27%2F17

FALL 2017 | Lehigh County Health & Medicine 19

http://www.LCMEDSOC.ORG https://www.pamedsoc.org/tools-you-can-use/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LCHM Fall 2017