R.I. health centers to share $650K in funding to fight prescription opioid and heroin abuse

HEALTH CENTERS in Newport and Warwick each received $325,000 in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration to help treat prescription opioid and heroin addiction.
HEALTH CENTERS in Newport and Warwick each received $325,000 in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration to help treat prescription opioid and heroin addiction.

PROVIDENCE – Two Rhode Island health centers each received $325,000 in federal funding to help treat prescription opioid and heroin addiction.
Funds from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration will be given to East Bay Community Action Program in Newport and Thundermist Health Center in Warwick.
They will be used to improve and expand the delivery of substance abuse services, with a specific focus on treatment of opioid use disorders in underserved populations, according to a news release issued Friday from the federal agency.
The centers also will be able to increase the number of patients screened for substance use disorders, improve access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid abuse, and provide training and educational resources for health professionals.
“The opioid epidemic is one of the most pressing public health issues in the United States today,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said. “Expanding access to medication-assisted treatment and integrating these services in health centers bolsters nationwide efforts to curb opioid misuse and abuse.”
Nationally, $94 million is being awarded.
Approximately 4.5 million people in the United States were non-medical prescription pain reliever users in 2013, and an estimated 289,000 were current heroin users. HHS also estimates the number of unintentional overdose deaths from prescription pain medications has nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2013, and deaths related to heroin increased 39 percent between 2012 and 2013.

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