By John George – Senior
Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal
Nov 30,
2018, 1:40pm
Bloomberg
Philanthropies awarded a $10 million grant Pennsylvania to help strengthen
state and local opioid prevention and treatment efforts.
Pennsylvania
was the first state selected for funding under a Bloomberg Philanthropies
initiative that will allocate a total a $50 million in grants to help 10 states
battle the opioid epidemic.
Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf accepted
the three-year, $10 million grant Friday morning from Michael
Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and the former mayor
of New York, at the inaugural Bloomberg American Health Summit in Washington,
D.C.
“My
administration has made fighting the opioid epidemic one of its top priorities,
and this collaboration with Michael
Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies will allow us to take an
in-depth look at the areas where we can supplement our programs to successfully
assist more Pennsylvanians,” Wolf said in a statement. “I want to see an end to
opioid use disorder in Pennsylvania, and this is a step in the right
direction.”
Bloomberg
credited Wolf with being a "real leader on the issue" and pledged to
work to help the state to tackle opioids from every angle and save lives.
Targeted funding areas will include staffing, technical assistance, and data collection.
"Together,
we’ll identify the best ways to curb this critical public health crisis and
create a blueprint for change across America," Bloomberg said.
Pennsylvania
had 5,400 overdose deaths in 2017 – the highest total of any state that year.
The figure includes more than 1,200 overdose deaths in Philadelphia.
Wolf
signed a heroin and opioid disaster declaration in January and since that time
16 state agencies have been working on initiatives to the address the state's
opioid addiction epidemic.
Recent
actions have included:
- Waiving birth
certificate fees for individuals seeking treatment,
- Using federal
Medicaid funding in treatment facilities to provide medically necessary
treatment to more than 125,000 individuals, and
- Providing career services to
people who have been impacted by the opioid epidemic and plan to return to
work.
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