Health Officials Fear Opioid Epidemic Has Not Plateaued

 

NEW CASTLE (Dec. 8, 2022) – In a heartbreaking sign that the opioid epidemic has not plateaued in Delaware, deaths from suspected overdoses in November set a new monthly high total, according to death investigation reports from the Division of Forensic Science.

In November 2022, 43 people died from suspected overdoses in Delaware. That surpasses the previous monthly high total of 42 set in May of this year. The 43 deaths included 21 people from New Castle County, 18 from Sussex County and four from Kent County.

Through Nov. 30, preliminary reports from the Division of Forensic Science show that 376 people have died from suspected overdoses in Delaware. That total is an 18% increase over a similar period in 2021. In 2021, Delaware reported 515 overdose deaths, with more than 80% involving the use of fentanyl, a synthetic pain reliever that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. November’s total of 43 deaths is about 50% higher than the average total deaths for the month of November, dating back to 2015.

“These deaths are heartbreaking for families across our state,” said Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Molly Magarik. “We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term consequences for society, and behavioral health issues – including substance use disorder – is one of those consequences. The holiday season can add another layer of stress and anxiety to people’s lives, so we encourage Delawareans who need support – whether they are actively using substances or not – to reach out to talk with trained counselors, their own doctor, or another person they trust. At DHSS, we will continue to prioritize such harm-reduction strategies as training more loved ones to use Narcan, the medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, and helping more people get connected to the treatment they need to begin their recovery.”

To help address behavioral health needs of Delawareans, DHSS has several ways for individuals or their family members to connect:

• Call the 24/7 Delaware Hope Line at 1-833-9-HOPEDE or 1-833-946-7333 – a single point of contact in which callers can connect to a variety of resources and information, including support from clinicians and peer specialists plus crisis assistance.
• Stop by one of DHSS’ Bridge Clinics for an in-person assessment.
• Visit TreatmentConnection.com to find out which treatment providers are located near you.
• Visit HelpIsHereDE.com, DHSS’ one-stop website where Delawareans can search for treatment services and resources in Delaware or nearby states.
• Call 988 if the individual is in crisis and needs immediate support.
• Call 911 if someone has overdosed and needs emergency medical attention.
• Learn where to find Narcan training, get the medication through the mail, and download the OpiRescueDE App here.

Joanna Champney, director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH), urged individuals in active substance use to consult with a medical provider immediately or call DHSS’ Delaware Hope Line to discuss treatment options. “Every day, we see the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on people’s lives,” Champney said. “Especially for those who are vulnerable, it has added stress to their lives, negatively impacted their mental health, and isolated them too often from services. Plus, we know the holidays are an additional stressor.”

“DSAMH is funding expansions of the continuum of care for substance use treatment services in each county,” Champney added. “We have increased our withdrawal management capacity by about 43% and our residential treatment by 22%. We have bolstered outpatient services by about 36% and our sober living recovery residences are up 3% overall. “For people who are uninsured or underinsured, the State will fund their treatment services. We’re also funding mobile treatment services and we have transportation services available. We want to reduce as many barriers to health care as possible.”

Champney encouraged anyone who is using substances or suffering from addiction to call for help, see a medical provider, or ask a police officer or another first responder for help. Family members can reach out on behalf of their loved ones, too. “Our first priority is to save lives,” she said.

Under Delaware’s 911/Good Samaritan Law, people who call 9-1-1 to report an overdose and the person in medical distress cannot be arrested for low-level drug crimes.

Interim Division of Public Health Director Dr. Rick Hong urged those in active use to get Narcan through one of DSAMH’s Bridge Clinics, at a participating pharmacy – where no prescription is required – or at a Narcan training session.

“Narcan saves lives,” Dr. Hong said. “We urge anyone who needs access to Narcan to go to a Bridge Clinic, a training class or distribution event, or to a participating pharmacy to buy the overdose-reversing medication. We also encourage Delawareans to download OpiRescue Delaware, a smartphone app that provides lifesaving step-by-step instructions on how to respond to an overdose, including administration of Narcan.”

To find the Bridge Clinic in your county, training or distribution events, or a participating pharmacy, go to HelpIsHereDE.com, and click on the overdose prevention tab.

In addition, Dr. Hong praised Brandywine Counseling and Community Services’ Syringe Services Program, which provides outreach statewide. Brandywine Counseling’s mobile sites offer Narcan, fentanyl testing strips, and syringe services, and have a positive track record of connecting people to care for substance use disorder.

The Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health’s Bridge Clinic locations and hours:

NEW CASTLE COUNTY
DSAMH Central Office
14 Central Ave.
New Castle, DE 19720
24/7
302-255-1650

New Castle County Hope Center
365 Airport Road
New Castle, DE 19720
Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Sat-Sun: 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
302-544-6815

KENT COUNTY
James W. Williams State Service Center
805 River Road, Third Floor
Dover, DE 19901
Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
302-857-5060

SUSSEX COUNTY
Thurman Adams State Service Center
546 S. Bedford St.
Georgetown, DE 19947
Mon-Fri: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
302-515-3310

NEW CASTLE (July 21, 2020) – The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) today announced the launch of ATLAS™, the first resource of its kind to help those looking for addiction treatment find high-quality and appropriate care. This online platform, www.TreatmentATLAS.org, provides the public and decision makers across the state with transparent data on the use of evidence-based medical practices and patient experiences at addiction treatment facilities. ATLAS will empower Delawareans to seek the treatment that is most likely to put them on the path to recovery at a time when it is more necessary than ever.

ATLAS also will support statewide improvement in the quality of addiction treatment by democratizing data for use by the facilities to inform quality improvement initiatives by health care payers, such as employers and insurers, to align market forces with best practices. State officials will be able to disseminate resources and design future interventions. In Delaware, for the first six months of 2020, 190 people have died from suspected overdoses, according to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science. That’s about a 47% increase over the same 6 months in both 2018 and 2019. In all of 2019, Delaware reported 431 overdose deaths – up 8% from the total for 2018. “We are grateful for this partnership with Shatterproof to provide Delaware families with this online resource where they can find high-quality and trusted addiction treatment,” Delaware Governor John Carney said. “Getting people to the right care at the right time can help save lives and move more Delawareans into active and long-term recovery.”

Delaware is one of six states that has partnered with Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis in America, to develop and launch ATLAS.

“When my family was looking for addiction treatment for my son Brian, the system was impossible to navigate. If ATLAS was available, I believe we could have found evidence-based treatment and my son might be alive today,” said Gary Mendell, Founder and CEO of Shatterproof. “As I look forward as to how ATLAS will help so many people in need and their loved ones and as I learn more about how the COVID-19 pandemic is aggravating the already existing addiction public health crisis, it is so important that we make ATLAS available to everyone in Delaware and across the country.”

“We are worried about the impact that COVID-19 is having on Delawareans who already are struggling with substance use disorder,” said Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker, a practicing family physician. “For Delaware families who are trying to navigate treatment services for their loved ones, this new tool from Shatterproof will help them find evidence-based, high-quality care that they can trust.”

ATLAS measures addiction treatment facilities’ use of best practices through a combination of validated data sources and reports them publicly. It enables the end-user to search and filter using different criteria and includes an expert-agreed upon Addiction Treatment Needs Assessment to help guide the search based on the individual’s needs. Recognizing that consumers are not the only market influencer that can propel the quality of the addiction treatment field, ATLAS is also designed for use by state agencies, health insurers and employers to align policies and payment decisions through expert agreed upon best practices. ATLAS enables treatment facilities that voluntarily submit data to benchmark themselves against their peers and design data-driven quality improvement initiatives, making this information transparent to the public in a user-friendly manner. Information is also made transparent to providers, payers, and states in a way that can drive quality improvement.

While all addiction treatment facilities across Delaware are listed on ATLAS, 64.7% of the facilities voluntarily reported on their services and practices. ATLAS also includes feedback from other patients once a minimum threshold of 20 responses per facility is met. This data updates every 24 hours.

In Delaware, individuals and families who are struggling with substance use disorder or mental health issues, can call the 24/7 Delaware Hope Line at 1-833-9-HOPEDE (1-833-946-7333). Or they can visit HelpIsHereDE.com, DHSS’ clearinghouse website, for a connection to treatment and recovery services and supports in Delaware or nearby states.

Finding addiction treatment can be extremely difficult. ATLAS is a trusted resource to help make this process easier. Join Shatterproof on July 21, 2020, as it celebrates the launch of ATLAS, an innovative new platform for locating appropriate, high-quality addiction treatment.

NEW CASTLE (Sept. 26, 2019) – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently awarded the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services a $3.58 million planning grant to increase the treatment capacity of Medicaid providers to deliver substance use disorder treatment and recovery services to Delawareans in need.

Delaware was one of 15 states to receive the 18-month planning grants to increase addiction-related services through:

• An ongoing assessment of the SUD treatment needs of the state.
• Recruitment, training and technical assistance for Medicaid providers who offer SUD treatment or recovering services.
• Improved reimbursement for and expansion of the number or treatment capacity of Medicaid providers.

“We are grateful to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for providing this technical assistance to Delaware during the ongoing opioid crisis,” Gov. John Carney said. “We also appreciate the members of our congressional delegation supporting this critical work to increase our treatment capacity of Medicaid providers statewide.”

“With one in every four Delawareans being a Medicaid recipient, the need for treatment and recovery support is critical to stem this epidemic,” said Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long. “The Behavioral Health Consortium is pleased we have our congressional delegation partnering with us to get more boots on the ground to save lives and expand care.”

“As our country continues to grapple with a deadly opioid epidemic, it is critical that we continue working to ensure that all those suffering from addiction have access to the life-saving treatment they need,” U.S. Sen. Tom Carper said. “By providing additional training and resources to Medicaid providers for substance use disorder treatment, we can help ensure that more Delawareans, regardless of their means or what community they live in, receive high-quality care.”

“As opioid-related deaths reach epidemic levels in Delaware and across the country, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to stop this crisis. Already this year, we’ve lost over 200 Delawareans to suspected overdose deaths,” Sen. Chris Coons said. “This grant will allow the Department of Health and Social Services, along with Medicaid providers throughout the state, to focus on keeping our communities safe and bolstering our substance abuse treatment workforce.”

“Expanding treatment capacity and increasing resources to Medicaid providers is one of the most effective ways to combat the opioid epidemic in Delaware,” said U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. “These resources from CMS will be crucial in continuing to improve our addiction treatment and ultimately, save lives.”

The Medicaid planning grant helps to meet priorities for Delaware’s treatment system outlined in 2018 recommendations from researchers and clinicians at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In April 2017, DHSS Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker had asked Johns Hopkins to conduct a review of Delaware’s addiction treatment system. In July 2018, the Johns Hopkins team issued a 33-page report that proposed four main strategies:

• Increase the capacity of the treatment system.
• Engage high-risk populations in treatment.
• Create incentives for quality care.
• Use data to guide reform and monitor progress.

“Across our country, Medicaid is the largest payer of addiction treatment services,” Secretary Walker said. “In Delaware, this planning grant will help us increase the capacity for Medicaid-provided treatment and recovery services for vulnerable people who are suffering from this chronic and complex brain disease.”

Dr. Elizabeth Brown, Medical Director for the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance, said the funding will be used for data analysis, a rate review and reimbursement redesign, expanding the provider pool, and stakeholder engagement.

If you or a loved one is struggling with substance use disorder, please call DHSS’ 24/7 Crisis Services Helpline to be connected to trained crisis professionals who can discuss treatment options. In New Castle County, call 1-800-652-2929. In Kent and Sussex counties, call 1-800-345-6785. Individuals and families also can visit DHSS’ website, www.HelpIsHereDE.com, to find addiction treatment and recovery services in Delaware and nearby states.

As of Sept. 24, the Division of Forensic Science has reported a total of 209 suspected overdose deaths in Delaware this year. There is always a lag in terms of both toxicology analyses and death determinations. In 2018, there were 400 overdose deaths across the state, an increase of 16 percent from the 2017 total of 345 deaths.

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The Department of Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of life of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations.