On Friday, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen and Dr. Wen toured Tuerk House, a substance use residential treatment facility located in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood in West Baltimore. They discussed opportunities to improve access to addiction and substance use disorder treatment.  

During the conversation, Senator Van Hollen said, “Just yesterday, the U.S. Attorney General Sessions, decided to roll back some of the progress we've made at the federal level under the Obama administration, where they were telling prosecutors to deal with substance abuse with more care and not simply locking people up."

"For addiction, we know what works,” said Dr. Wen. “We just don't have the resources to do it. I know that there are all kinds of commissions proposed to study this issue further, but we don't need more studies. What we need is treatment."

The recently approved federal omnibus spending bill included $103 million for combatting the opioid epidemic. Last year, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act, which authorizes $1 billion over two years to address the opioid epidemic, in addition to funding for mental health research and treatment. Maryland will receive approximately $10 million to fight the opioid crisis, which is funded by the Act.

However, the plan to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, allows states to apply for waivers to remove the requirement that health plans cover essential health benefits, which means that insurers can stop providing coverage for mental health and addiction services. At a time when the height of the opioid overdose epidemic continues to be a public health threat, the policy change will negatively impact millions of lives.

BCHD has developed a comprehensive, three-pillar strategy to combat opioid addiction:

1. Prevent deaths from overdose and save lives.
2. Increase access to on-demand treatment and long-term recovery support.
3. Provide education to reduce stigma and prevent addiction.

In collaboration with several partners, BCHD has already taken several actions, including:

• Issuing a blanket prescription for the opioid antidote, naloxone, to all 620,000 residents of Baltimore. Since 2015, this program has saved over 800 lives.
• Creating a 24/7 phone hotline for anyone with addiction and mental health concerns that receives more than 1,000 calls each week for crisis services and referral to appointments. If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction and mental health, please call 410-433-5175.
• Securing $3.6M in capital funds to build a stabilization center, which will be the first step toward creating a 24/7 emergency department for behavioral health.
• Hiring community-based peer recovery specialists and piloting universal addiction screening in hospitals.

Learn more about our work in substance use and addiction in Baltimore City.