Health

Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis

00000174-c556-d691-a376-cdd69e980000Day after day, week after week, the headlines in Northeast Ohio and across much of the country contain news of tragic loss: lives lost to opioids. It’s a problem that knows no bounds: geography, race, gender, level of education or income.The problem took on new urgency this summer as the powerful elephant sedative, Carfentanil, began hitting the streets. First responders armed with their only weapon, the overdose antidote Naloxone, have struggled to keep up with what’s become an overwhelming problem. It’s an issue that’s straining public and social resources. What has become clear is that business as usual is not going to fix the problem.WKSU news has been covering the unfolding crisis. Tuesdays during Morning Edition, the WKSU news team digs even deeper. WKSU reporters will examine what’s led us here and what might be done to turn the tide. Support for Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis comes from Wayne Savings Community Bank, Kent State University Office of Continuing and Distance Education, Hometown Grocery Delivery, Mercy Medical Center, AxessPointe Community Health Center, Community Support Services, Inc., Medina County District Library and Hudson Community First.00000174-c556-d691-a376-cdd69e980001

CURE's Funding Will Expand Medication-Assisted Treatment and Peer Counselors in Stark County

Ideastream Public Media | By M.L. Schultze

Published April 20, 2017 at 4:09 PM EDT

Ohio is getting $26 million from the federal government to help fight the opioid epidemic.

The CURES Act passed in the waning days of the Obama administration and promised a billion dollars over two years to improve monitoring, prevention and treatment. This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the first round of $485 million in grants to states.

Stark County is among those qualifying for the money. John Aller, head of the Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Board says the money will go toward recovery services.

“What we’re going to use those resources for is (to) expand medication-assisted treatment, but also then put peer navigators in the local hosptials around the county to when people come in after an overdose, they can get connected and work on looping people out here or into the crisis center.”

The funding is separate Ohio Sen. Rob Portman’s Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act and the treatment paid for by the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.