Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has unveiled a $27 million plan to counter the current heroin and opioid addiction epidemic, including adding beds to various healthcare facilities across the state.
The plan aims to increase the state's capacity to treat drug addicts and reduce the stigma around addiction. The governor announced in February he would be establishing an Opioid Addiction Working Group tasked with formulating a statewide strategy to combat addiction. The recently announced plan is based on the findings of the working group.
"Opioid abuse is a public health epidemic and I applaud our working group for producing these recommendations based on a comprehensive analysis," said Gov. Baker. "The solution to eradicating opioids is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and will require all of us to rethink the way we treat addiction."
Initiatives in the governor's recently released plan include adding at least 100 new treatment beds, increasing addiction specialists in state offices, expanding education for medical professionals and updating the state's database for opiate prescriptions, to name a few.
According to Rhonda Mann, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health & Human Services, healthcare providers and treatment facilities to which new treatment beds will be added include:
- Behavioral Health Network (beds will be added in Greenfield, Mass.)
- Spectrum Health (beds will be added in Westborough, Mass.)
- MetroWest Medical Center (beds will be added in Natick, Mass.)
- Acadia Health (beds will be added in Dartmouth, Mass.); and
- Summit Behavioral Health (beds will be added in Haverhill, Mass.)
"While the addition of new beds will certainly expand access, the Working Group's comprehensive plan will get people the help they need earlier in the process and allow them more continuity of care," wrote Ms. Mann in an email. "With appropriate care, we expect to see a decrease in relapses, which will open even more beds."
Additionally, the state will collaborate with chain pharmacies to implement statewide drug take-back programs and improve timely overdose death reporting to help officials identify heroin "hot spots" where they can send resources, and local police forces will be given access to Narcan and other treatments used to reverse the effects of an overdose, according to a Reuters report.
According to statements made by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and reported by Reuters, the state must also improve access to mental health and substance abuse services.
"I speak as a member of law enforcement when I say we are not going to arrest or incarcerate our way out of this," Ms. Healey said of the addiction epidemic. "This is a disease."
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