Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on April 24 the awarding of over $5.8 million to providers across New York State to establish comprehensive integrated outpatient treatment programs for addiction.

This funding is being distributed through the State’s Opioid Settlement Fund.

“Countless lives have been impacted by the opioid and overdose epidemic here in New York,” Hochul said. “As individuals, families, and communities across the state continue to feel the impact of this crisis, we are working to meet the ongoing need for treatment services, and will continue our comprehensive efforts to help ensure no more lives are lost to addiction.”

The governor said comprehensive integrated outpatient treatment programs provide more opportunities to access person-centered comprehensive services, including medication treatment for opioid use disorder.

She said these programs are designed to address the ongoing need for integrated treatment by centralizing these services in one location.

Programs receiving this funding will operate both an outpatient treatment program and an opioid treatment program (OTP) at the same site.

New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham said, “These new programs will allow more people to receive important help and support for addiction, including medication treatment, all under one roof. Thanks to the funding provided through the Opioid Settlement Fund, we are continuing to expand and enhance our services to give more New Yorkers a chance to access these important services closer to home.”

State Sen. Nathalia Fernandez said, “I am happy that we are seeing the Opioid Settlement Fund be used in such precise and effective ways. Having integrated treatment in one location will not only help our patients to receive critical services but it will also help providers and medical staff with the resources they need to save lives and treat addiction more successfully.”

The following 12 providers are receiving funding through this initiative to establish programs in the listed counties.

Central New York: Crouse Health Hospital (Onondaga) – $239,097

Finger Lakes: Huther Doyle Memorial Institute, Inc. (Monroe) $560,000

Long Island: Federation of Organizations for the New York State Mentally Disabled, Inc (Suffolk) $660,000

Mid-Hudson: Westchester County Health Care Corp & Health Alliance (Ulster) – $374,000; and Lexington Center for Recovery, Inc. (Dutchess) – $374,000

New York City

Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities, Inc. (Queens) – $660,000; NYC H+H Jacobi Medical Center (Bronx) – $660,000;

Samaritan Daytop Village (Richmond) – $660,000; and St. Joseph’s Hospital (Queens) – $402,000

North Country: Credo Community Center for Treatment of Addictions, Inc (Jefferson) – $240,106

Southern Tier: CASA Trinity, Inc. (Steuben) – $615,224

Western NY: Northpointe Council, Inc. (Niagara) – $374,000

Hochul said New York State is receiving more than $2 billion through various settlement agreements with opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies that were secured by Attorney General Letitia James.

The governor said a portion of the funding from these settlements will go directly to municipalities, with the remainder deposited into a dedicated fund to support prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery efforts to address the ongoing opioid epidemic.

She said the same legislation that established the dedicated fund also created the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board, which is tasked with making recommendations on how settlement dollars, should be allocated to best serve those in need.

Board members issued their first recommendations on Nov.1, identifying the expansion of harm reduction services and treatment as top priorities.

Hochul said New York State has instituted an “aggressive, multi-pronged approach to addressing the overdose epidemic, and created a nation-leading continuum of addiction care with full prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services.”

She said the state has worked to expand access to traditional services, including crisis services, inpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment programs, as well as medication to treat addiction, and mobile treatment and transportation services.

Gov. Hochul was a member of the NYS Heroin and Opioid Task Force, which in 2016, recommended new, non-traditional services, including recovery centers, youth clubhouses, expanded peer services, and open access centers, which provide immediate assessments and referrals to care.

These services have since been established in numerous communities around the state and have helped people in need access care closer to where they live.

The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports oversees one of the nation’s largest substance use disorder systems of care with approximately 1,700 prevention, treatment and recovery programs serving over 731,000 individuals per year.

This includes the direct operation of 12 Addiction Treatment Centers where our doctors, nurses, and clinical staff provide inpatient and residential services to approximately 8,000 individuals per year.

New Yorkers struggling with an addiction, or whose loved ones are struggling, can find help and hope by calling the state’s toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).

Available addiction treatment including crisis/detox, inpatient, residential, or outpatient care can be found using the NYS OASAS Treatment Availability Dashboard at FindAddictionTreatment.ny.gov or through the NYS OASAS website.

If you, or a loved one, have experienced insurance obstacles related to treatment or need help filing an appeal for a denied claim, contact the CHAMP helpline by phone at 888-614-5400 or email at ombuds@oasas.ny.gov.