A message from Onondaga County Chairman Ryan McMahon:
An estimated 22 million Americans suffer from chemical dependency or substance abuse, with 47 people dying every day in the United States from an overdose of prescription painkillers. In 2012, Health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers, enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills. In addition to the emotional and social costs substance abuse has on individuals and families, it also costs the United States more than $600 billion annually. The New York State health department, in an attempt to address the concerns with prescription drug abuse, maintains a database referred to as the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) Registry. Effective since August 27, 2013, most prescribers are required to consult the State’s PMP registry to better evaluate a patient’s treatment as it pertains to controlled substance prescribing. Although this database is reducing the amount of painkillers that are prescribed, it is not addressing the heroin addictions that are developing as a result of the reduction in prescribed opioids. People that are addicted to opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin. Chemical dependency and substance abuse are community-wide problems that will require community-wide solutions.
Crouse Hospital is the only Central New York provider to offer a methadone maintenance treatment program. Crouse also offers outpatient rehabilitation, outpatient treatment and addiction psychiatry. Patients are assessed for the specific treatment that best fits their needs. Outpatient services are available at 410 South Crouse Avenue, while residential and hospital based services are available at Crouse Hospital and at Commonwealth Place, a 40-bed residential facility in Mattydale. As the only provider of methadone treatment, Crouse’s facility is not large enough to accommodate the need in our community. As a result, more than 300 people are on a waiting list to receive medication assisted treatment. Heroin-related overdose deaths in Onondaga County are at an all-time high; out of 100,000 residents there are 5.6 heroin deaths. Nation-wide there are 3.3 deaths per 100,000, and state-wide 4.9. We can only speculate why Onondaga County is above the state and national average, but, either way, we must ensure that more treatment is available to stop this number from growing. To fight the opioid and heroin abuse epidemic in Onondaga County, I am sponsoring legislation allocating $150,000 to Crouse Hospital to help fund their programming. This funding will assist in Crouse’s mission, but in no way will solve this harrowing problem. Crouse Hospital is in need of a larger facility, nearly twice the size of their current facility, to meet this growing need in our region. It concerns me that we have to tell an individual that has taken that first, critical step to seek help that there are no beds available. This is unacceptable, and the Legislature will do everything in its power to see that resources are available for prevention and education to reduce the number of substance abuse cases in our community. For more information on Crouse’s Chemical Dependency Treatment Services, call 315-470-8304 or 1-800-727-6873.
