';
Tags Posts tagged with "opioid crisis in Pennsylvania"

opioid crisis in Pennsylvania

Later today, Gov. Tom Wolf is scheduled to announce another renewal — the sixth one since he first made the declaration on January 10, 2018 — of a state opioid disaster declaration. Pennsylvania state law regarding disaster declarations is written to address, primarily, natural disasters, and Wolf’s opioid disaster declaration was the first-of-its-kind health emergency-related disaster declaration. Under state law, a state of disaster emergency may be continued by the Governor for no more than 90 days, unless renewed by the Governor or terminated, at any time, by a concurrent resolution approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. His office says he plans to talk about two new opioid-related initiatives at the presser this afternoon in the Governor’s Reception Room in the Main Capitol, and he’ll be joined by State Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman, State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Jennifer Smith, members of the Opioid Command Center, and state legislators. Questions, please contact Jack Phillips.

The opioid crisis in Pennsylvania and in America has resulted in a major call to action from Pennsylvania’s leadership as well as national leaders. Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health calls for increased integration of primary care and addiction services. Join one of the authors of the report, Dr. Connie Weisner, in a discussion of the findings and what efforts are needed to support integrating screening, assessments, interventions, use of medications, and care coordination. Hear practical examples from an HRSA-funded primary care provider about the steps they take to successfully and continually address substance use.

The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions will host a webinar focusing on the substance use and opioid crisis and coordinated care on Thursday, January 5, 2017, 3:00 pm.

After this webinar, participants will:

  • Understand the key findings related to integration of substance use and primary care services detailed within The Surgeon General’s report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health;
  • Identify concrete ways primary care settings can integrate substance use treatment and early intervention activities into their services;
  • Describe why early intervention activities such as SBIRT are important to overall health;
  • Gain ideas for using the report to educate staff, board, and clients to facilitate conversation about addictions; and
  • Learn about useful resources for setting up and providing substance use services in an integrated health setting.

Register here →