Vermont Opioid Treatment Funding

(June 24, 2019)

Patients showing signs of opioid addiction will receive help to begin opioid treatment in some Vermont hospitals, reports the VT Digger. A $1.5 million grant from SAMHSA to the University of Vermont’s Medical Center will launch immediate medical assistance in the emergency departments of the UVM Medical Center and Central Vermont Medical Center. Doctors give immediate assistance by discussing patients’ treatment options, recommending treatment centers, and providing buprenorphine to help patients begin treatment. The UVM Medical Center received the grant in September 2017, and it will last until 2021. This initiative will also study whether the immediate assistance counteracts Vermont’s low rate of treatment among opioid users. UVM professor of psychiatry Richard Rawson, PhD, will collect data to evaluate the approach during its use, likely to recommend its continuation or revision in the coming years.

To find an opioid treatment center or doctor in Vermont, look here or here.