Collaborative program provides resources to address overdose crisis in at-risk communities over the next five years
BUFFALO, NY – Today Spectrum Health and Human Services and Evergreen Health announced receipt of a joint $2.65 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to expand and enhance Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services in rural communities across Western New York over the next five years, reaching 10 counties. The initiative will allow the two organizations to work together to reduce overdose deaths and respond to the overall overdose crisis across Western New York and the United States.
Spectrum Health and Evergreen Health together expanding their MAT programs is a direct response to the unprecedented overdose deaths in the region and immediate need for drug user health services.
“Spectrum Health was thrilled to be chosen for this SAMHSA grant with Evergreen. There is a secondary tragedy during the COVID-19 pandemic – and it’s the increase in deaths due to drug overdose. According to the Erie County Opioid Task Force and the Centers for Disease Control, there was a 29.4% increase in opioid-related deaths since 2019. We had been making progress in decreasing overdose deaths prior to the pandemic, and now our services are even more important,” said Cindy Voelker, associate CEO of Spectrum Health.
The federal SAMHSA grant will fund MAT programs for adolescents and adults with substance abuse disorder and opioid use disorder, as well as those at risk of HIV and Hepatitis C due to injection drug use, in rural and underserved communities. MAT is the use of medications, including buprenorphine (also referred to as Suboxone), to help an individual stop or reduce their use of drugs and/or alcohol.
The collaborative program will unite two already strong MAT programs and increase the scope of Spectrum Health and Evergreen Health’s services in rural areas. For Spectrum Health, the organization will be able to more fully utilize its mobile therapy units, put on the road in 2021, in Springville and Warsaw. For Evergreen Health, availability of its services will now extend beyond Buffalo to its Jamestown location. Ultimately, the intent of the program is to expand to ten Western New York counties.
“The impact of extending our MAT programs is not only to reduce overdose deaths, but also to provide wraparound and lifesaving services. By linking at-risk individuals to vital drug user health services like MAT, we also open the door to providing medical, supportive and behavioral services, which can have true impact on a community’s health and the health of its residents. This grant will mean helping more communities and the people and families who have been historically underserved by the healthcare system,” said Khristopher Decker, vice president of behavioral health at Evergreen Health.
Ann Bowback was named director of the initiative. Bowback was formerly the Clinical Director of Spectrum Health’s South Buffalo Counseling Center.
