This Week in CHCACTion
December 11, 2017
This Week in CHCACTivities
A recent report from the Presidents’ Commission on Opioid Addiction confirms that Opioid use is a serious public health issue. Data show that drug overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States from both prescription and non-prescription drugs. In the US in 2015, 12.5 million people misused prescription opioids; 33,000 of those died from overdosing, while 828,000 used heroin - with 12,989 deaths because of overdosing.

Brenda DelGado, Clinical Workforce Advisor
Several state and federal agencies are working in a coordinated effort to identify solutions. Here in Connecticut, CHCACT continues to work in partnership with health centers, community organizations and government agencies to assess patient and provider training needs and to provide the resources needed to:
- ensure providers and patients know the options for pain management;
- ensure that health centers are aware of all relevant state and federal laws; and,
- to maintain and expand services to people needing opioid treatment.
CT identified opioids as a public health crisis about 4 years ago and during that time has passed several laws, as well as developed the CT Opioid Response (CORE) initiative. CORE uses time sensitive data to look at medical, public health and policy initiatives to treat opioids and reduce overdoses. 2015 data show Hartford, Waterbury, New Haven, Bridgeport and Norwich as cities where overdoses from both heroin and opioids are most common. In CT, a total of 724 people died from either heroin or other opioids in 2015.
CT also uses the Federal Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) to ensure its residents are not “doctor shopping” or using additional medications that are incompatible with their opioid prescriptions. A unique asset in CT is the funding of “recovery coaches” in some emergency departments to help support those interested in obtaining immediate access to treatment. We know that both education at all levels of health care delivery and access to treatment are key components to helping CT reach its goal of “decreasing the adverse impact of opioids on CT residents with the immediate emphasis on reducing overdose mortality.” Current laws also provide for many medical professions to receive related trainings to deliver Narcan to avoid overdose deaths.
Using these multidisciplinary approaches, health centers, policymakers and other partners can help to stem this epidemic.
Have a great week!
Brenda
This Week in Social Media
We love the
#Enrollment team at @CSHHC! Thanks to all the #healthcenter staff who enroll people across CT! #FQHC #ValueCHCs@CTHealthCenters) December 5, 2017.
This Week in Funding Opportunities
Opportunity | Due Date | Link |
---|---|---|
Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program for Paraprofessionals
The BHWET Program for Paraprofessionals develops and expands community-based experiential training to increase the supply of students preparing to become peer support specialists and other behavioral health-related paraprofessionals while also improving distribution of a quality behavioral health workforce. |
4/12/2021 | Details |
This Week in Health Policy News
Here is a sampling of health policy news from around the state. If you see something in your local newspaper that you would like featured here in future weeks, please contact Deb Polun at dpolun@chcact.org. Check out all the Health Policy News from the past month here!
12.5.17 Hartford Courant — InterCommunity Celebrates 40 Years of Caring
12.5.17 Register Citizen — Community Health & Wellness to Take Over Winsted SuperSaver After Settlement Reached
12.5.17 CT Health Foundation Blog — Looking for Health Care in 2018? Here Are Some Tips From the Field (feat. CS-Hill)
12.5.17 US News & World Report — Ignoring Community Health Centers Would Punish States’ Economies, Report Says
12.6.17 CT NewsJunkie — Medicare Savings Program Changes Put on Hold
12.6.17 CT Viewpoints — Let’s Not Treat Opioid Addiction with Another Drug
12.6.17 Hartford Business Journal — CT Lab to Offer Comprehensive HIV Testing Services
12.8.17 The Hill — Democrats Rip “Highly Partisan” Bill to Fund Children’s Health Insurance
12.8.17 Kaiser Health News — Challenges Abound for 26-Year-Olds Falling Off Parents’ Health Insurance
12.6.17 Kaiser Health News — Pace of US Health Spending Slows in 2016
12.6.17 Kaiser Health News — Hospitals Find Asthma Hot Spots More Profitable to Neglect than to Fix
12.5.17 Kaiser Health News — Dangling a Carrot for Patients to Take Healthy Steps – Does it Work?