An addiction treatment center in Springfield, Missouri has received a grant to combat the opioid epidemic.
The Jordan Valley Health Foundation, which has six facilities throughout the state including the drug addiction treatment center in Springfield, received a sum of $1 million from the Missouri Foundation for Health.
Founded in 2000, the Missouri Foundation of Health provides services to 84 counties across Missouri. The foundation is the biggest in the state and one of the largest in the country.
The Missouri Foundation of Health is affiliated with other organizations to give funding and grants to communities in need. They provide opportunities for other groups to petition for funding.
The Springfield drug addiction treatment center was established in 2003 and has been working toward helping the less fortunate patients in the community.
Their goals are to improve the community’s health outcomes through access to treatment and relationships to serve those who lack financial resources. The foundation values innovation, integrity, collaboration, accountability, respect and excellence.
Now, Jordan Valley Health Foundation will be able to have additional resources to help curb the effects of substance use disorders in their patients with an addiction recovery program.
The state has been attempting to solve its opioid crisis for a few years.
The Missouri Opioid Crisis enacted a grant, the Opioid State Targeted Response in May, 2017. That grant amounted to over $10 million a year for a two year term. The purpose of the grant was to increase access to addiction treatment programs that emphasize prevention and recovery.
The state has seen its share of struggles with opioid use disorders. There were 951 people who died from opioid-related overdoses in Missouri in 2017 while 774 people were saved because of naloxone, according to the Missouri Opioid Crisis.
This grant from the Missouri Foundation is a local one set aside strictly for the drug addiction treatment center located in Greene County. The funding comes at a good time considering Greene County has also had its issues with drug overdoses over recent years.
There 1,962 emergency department visits from 2012 to 2016 in Greene County that were related to opioid abuse and 151 from heroin-related overdoses, according to a report from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The report also highlighted that were 171 opioid-related overdose deaths during that same period. It was noted that 39 of those deaths were attributed to heroin.
Last year, Springfield created a prescription drug monitoring program in an attempt to track the substances that were being dispensed by pharmacists and determine which drugs were being abused the most.
The grant that is going to the drug addiction treatment center will provide funding for three years. The program that will be established with the funding is going to be called ‘Reimagining Opioid Abuse Treatment and Recovery’ and will not just focus on people who are struggling with substance use disorders but also on those who are at risk of relapsing.
The grant will include services for people with all substance use disorders but will target opioid abuse.
Author: Robert B. Hayek
Robert B Hayek is a reporter for Addiction Now and covers features and local spotlight stories. He previously worked for Fox Sports as a production assistant as well as a writer and reporter for an online website called Real Talk Sports Network. He has lived in Southern California his entire life, is a lover of books and writing and also surfs. Contact Robert at roberth@addictionnow.com
