CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Around 26 percent of funding announced last week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will go toward combatting the opioid crisis in rural communities.
The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded more than $396 million in investments to increase services at community health centers and rural organizations, as well as behavioral health training and related workforce education.
The department announced more than $1.4 billion to combat the opioid epidemic.
Nisha Patel, the associate director of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, said the funding will go toward 25 health centers in West Virginia.
“The health centers are often focal points for primary care services, but with this funding, they are going to be able to get individuals into treatment to get able to provide them with the support that they need as they go through treatment and recovery,” she said.
Patel added another issue in rural communities is identifying individuals with addiction and making sure resources are available for drug misuse treatment.
“This funding is both targeting prevention treatment and recovery,” she said. “This particular funding we really want to focus on getting the care that they need.”
The health administration has awarded $352 million to increase access to substance use disorder and mental health services, 18.5 million to support behavioral health education and $25.5 million to increase access to prevention and treatment services.
Patel said as a result of the funding, people will be able to find professionals to assist their recovery, include those offering medically-assisted treatment and counseling.
“There are recovery coaches and peer counselors who are really are able to get into communities, build trust with the individual and then be there for support,” she said.
“That not only involves the providers and the doctors, but that also involves the individual and the family. And it also involves issues such as transportation and childcare and making sure they have that full continuum of support as they go through recovery,” she said.
The money from the administration will go directly to the organizations to provide support.