Crouse Hospital is set to receive nearly a quarter of a million dollars to enhance opioid addiction treatment in the region.
So far this year Onondaga County is experiencing about three to four dozen opioid overdoses a week — the county reported 43 last week but earlier this month the tally reached 55 — and hundreds of people have died from the substance over the last two years. A total of 344 unintended opioid-related overdose deaths occurred in 2021 and 2022 combined.
The funding for Crouse is part of $5.8 million Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week for improving and boosting integrated outpatient treatment plans across the state. Integrated outpatient models bring multiple treatment services together under one roof, easing the burden on patients in need of care.
Alexandra Punch, the director of Syracuse University’s Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, said the state funding toward these services is a big deal.
“I think anytime you can reduce redundancies, increase patient care, and increase the census for providers is a really wonderful thing," Punch said. "You know, being able to work with a single counselor throughout the duration of your treatment really allows for a relationship and trust to be formed.”
Integrative programs for addiction involve inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, and potentially opioid treatment. Punch said if these services aren’t combined, they may be inefficient, but funding the integration of programs is only step one.
“You know, getting supportive services, mental health services, we need more of them, not just in Onondaga County, but like everywhere, but in Onondaga County," she said. "Absolutely. And so I think, you know, we could use a lot more social services, and a lot more awareness about the impact of different types of trauma, on the propensity to use drugs.”
Crouse is expected to receive almost $240,000. The hospital did not respond to WAER requests for comment.
