Total of $500,000 Awarded to ECMC to aid in Community Response to Opioid Crisis
BUFFALO, NY—Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) Corporation’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine and its Center for Hepatology Care were each awarded $250,000 for a total of $500,000 in grant funding from Erie County and the Erie County Department of Health to aid in the community’s response to the opioid crisis.
Erie County and the Erie County Department of Health awarded the funds to support community-based programming to Erie County residents in response to the ongoing opioid crisis. The programming focuses on prevention, education, harm reduction, and other aspects to combat the opioid crisis in Erie County. The goal of the grants is to fund a wide array of services, programs, and/or other fundable projects that will prevent and manage substance use disorder, expand, or facilitate, evidence-based treatment, and/or decrease opioid overdoses and fatalities. Each $250,000 grant can be utilized for up to five (5) years.
With the funding from Erie County, ECMC’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine (COEM) will further expand its efforts to address the issue of opioids in the workplace in Western New York. According to a recent poll by the National Safety Council, while 75% of US workplaces have been directly impacted by opioids, only 17% feel extremely well-prepared to deal with the issue. Through its new initiative, COEM aims to support both workplaces and employees impacted by opioids by advancing knowledge, treatment, support, and culture surrounding the opioid epidemic to mitigate its tremendous impact on our workforce and workplaces. Trainings will not only increase knowledge about opioids and their risks, but also decrease stigma that inhibits seeking help and empower workers to provide help to co-workers that might struggle with opioid use.
ECMC’s Center for Hepatology Care will be working on a community-wide approach with a focus of addressing the needs of criminal justice-involved persons and the needs of pregnant or parenting women and their families.
