Stark County will be able to treat nearly a thousand more patients for opioid addiction after receiving a federal grant.
The $615,000will be used to expand access to opioid-recovery drugs such as suboxone and methdone in Canton, Massillon and Alliance. The money will also allow the county to work with local hospitals to establish peer recovery programs.
John Aller is the executive director of Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery board.
“As you give people Narcan, which allows an overdose to be reversed so they don’t die, then you need to make sure that you’re able to provide quick access to them to start getting them into treatment so they can hopefully then move through that recovery process.”
Last year, the county had 118 overdose deaths, with 85 caused by heroin or fentanyl.
The funds come from the federal 21st Century Cures Act, which provides nearly a billion dollars in grants to fight opioid abuse across the country.
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