
Feds Give Oregon $16 Million To Fight Opioid Epidemic
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 |