People in rural northern Wisconsin will have better access to treatment for addiction to opioids like heroin or prescription painkillers under a new program, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The department is awarding grants to three providers in areas where treatment options are lacking. Family Health Center in Marshfield, North Lakes Community Clinic in Ashland and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls will provide medication, counseling and more to treat addiction.
Joyce Allen with the Wisconsin DHS said they hope to see a drop in opioid-related deaths. She said they also hope to “improve the quality of life for those individuals who are addicted to opioids, and to really have better access to these treatment services in regions of the state that currently do not have easy access.”
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Allen said treatment will be provided based on an assessment of each individual’s needs.
North Lakes Community Clinic CEO Reba Rice said they want to keep people from relapsing. She said heroin users are more at risk of overdosing if they go back to using the same amount before they quit.
“That’s one of the reasons that the opioid treatment program is so important, because we do have so many people who are really working hard to stay clean,” said Rice.
Ashland County had the second-highest rate of opioid-related hospitalizations among teens and young adults, according to most recent DHS data. Statewide, around 190 people were hospitalized and 440 people made a trip to the ER as the result of a heroin overdose in 2012.
Providers will receive roughly $688,000 each year for up to five years to offer treatment. The state saw 324 opioid-related deaths in 2012, according to most recent numbers from the department.
Meanwhile, a state health official said the DHS is looking to recruit physicians to prescribe medications like suboxone that treat addiction to heroin or prescription drugs. Joyce Allen, the bureau director in the division of mental health and substance abuse services with the department, said that people often relapse without medication.
“It would be helpful to have more local physicians who would assume that role of being that on-site local person to manage their medications,” said Allen.
She said they’ll be working with the Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center out of Chicago later this fall to educate and recruit physicians and connect them to training.
Allen did caution that medication is just one way to treat addiction.
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