The Trump administration is giving $16 million to Oregon to fight the opioid epidemic as part of $1 billion distributed nationwide.
A total of $8.3 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration will go to 30 community health centers, county health departments and rural organizations to expand access to integrated substance use disorder and mental health services.
One of Oregon’s U.S. senators, Democrat Ron Wyden, reacted to the grant with a statement: “Oregonians battling substance use and mental health challenges need access to quality care throughout our state,” the statement said. “This federal support provides essential help for Oregon clinics to bolster that care for patients and provide their loved ones the peace of mind that good treatment is available within their communities.”
Recipients are sprinkled around the state, from Portland to Wheeler and Pendleton to Corvallis. Winding Waters clinic in Enterprise received $303,000. Its innovations director, Dr. Elizabeth Powers, said: “This award will dramatically strengthen our team’s ability to combat the opioid epidemic, bringing additional evidence-based treatment options to our patients and their families here in Wallowa County.”
Another $7.9 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will be used to expand the use of medication to wean people off opioids, get more people treated and prevent overdose deaths.
That money will be distributed by the state of Oregon. The Oregon Health Authority did not respond to a request for comment about how it will use the money. Last year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration gave Oregon nearly $50 million.
Opioid prescribing and heroin use has dropped with federal, state and local campaigns about the opioid epidemic, which killed 42,000 people in 2016, prompting the federal government to declare an epidemic in 2017.
Widespread efforts have had an effect. Between January 2017 through this past August, prescriptions dropped 21 percent nationwide and the number of Americans starting on heroin was nearly cut in half between 2017 and 2017.
In Oregon, which used to have one of the highest opioid prescription rates in the country, peaking in the third quarter in 2015 at just over 1 million. That dropped to 806,000 in the second quarter of this year. The number of overdose deaths has also fallen from 870 between 2008 to 2010 to 779 between 2014 to 2016.
Here’s a rundown of the grants to community health centers, counties and rural organizations:
Adapt
Winston
$330,500
Bandon Community Health Center
Bandon
$285,000
Benton County
Corvallis
$233,000
Central City Concern
Portland
$346,376
Clackamas County
Oregon City
$327,000
Columbia River Community Health Services
Boardman
$285,000
Klamath Health Partners Inc.
Klamath Falls
$286,750
La Clinica Del Valle Family Health Care Center Inc.
Medford
$321,500
Lake Health District
Lakeview
$200,000
Lane County
Eugene
$346,500
Lincoln County
Newport
$285,000
Mosaic Medical
Bend
$212,750
Midvalley Healthcare Inc.
Lebanon
$249,873
Native American Rehabilitation Association Inc.
Portland
$285,000
Neighborhood Health Center
Portland
$285,000
Northeast Oregon Network
La Grande
$250,000
Northwest Human Services, Inc.
Salem
$285,000
One Community Health
Hood River
$309,750
Outside In
Portland
$295,250
Rinehart Medical Clinic
Wheeler
$291,000
Rogue Community Health
Medford
$295,000
Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital
Lincoln City
$200,000
Siskiyou Community Health Center, Inc.
Grants Pass
$223,522
Tillamook County
Tillamook
$285,000
Umatilla County
Pendleton
$200,000
Umpqua Community Health Center
Roseburg
$285,000
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center
Aloha
$287,500
The Wallace Medical Concern
Portland
$185,000
White Bird Clinic
Eugene
$285,500
Winding Waters Medical Clinic
Enterprise
$303,000
