• When: Thursday, July 27, 2023 from 1-3 p.m.

• Where: 10269 Winchester Road, Front Royal, VA

RSVP here or to:

Steven Quackenbush | Executive Director
Front Royal Treatment Center
856-239-1574 | steven.quackenbush@pinnacletreatment.com

The post Front Royal Treatment Center Open House appeared first on Pinnacle Treatment Centers.

Join us for the opening celebration of our new outpatient opioid addiction treatment program in Martinsville, Indiana.

Martinsville Treatment Services provides medication-assisted treatment (MAT) utilizing methadone, buprenorphine, Vivitrol, and individual and group counseling. Patients learn coping strategies to manage their addiction; receive vocational, parenting, social and life skills counseling; and benefit from wrap around services such as case management and peer support. Gender-specific groups available as well as specialized programming for pregnant women and new mothers. Medicaid and commercial insurance accepted; reasonable self-pay rates available.

RSVP to:

Kenisha Peden MSW, LCSW
Executive Director
Martinsville Treatment Services
765-558-2727 Ext. 122006
kenisha.peden@pinnacletreatment.com

The post Martinsville Treatment Services: Open House and Ribbon Cutting appeared first on Pinnacle Treatment Centers.

To RSVP to this free and virtual event, visit recoveryhappens.vfairs.com

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Join us for an open house to see our outpatient opioid addiction treatment center in Hamilton, Ohio, and meet our staff.

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS:

Martina Weber, LISW, Director of Addictions Services Butler County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery Services Board
Tyrina Taylor, MPH, Overdose Prevention Coordinator Butler County General Health District

RSVP to:

Ivy Voynovich M.S. LICDC
Executive Director
Hamilton Treatment Services
513-275-4273
ivy.voynovich@pinnacletreatment.com

The post Hamilton Treatment Services: Open House appeared first on Pinnacle Treatment Centers.

Jessica Bittner, MBA CDCA, executive director of our opioid treatment program Findlay Treatment Services in Findlay, Ohio, will be one of several guest speakers at this event. Join us to honor lives lost to overdose, learn more about overdose prevention, and connect with local resources.

The post Hancock Public Health Overdose Awareness Educational Event appeared first on Pinnacle Treatment Centers.

When the opioid crisis swept across the United States, New Jersey was one of the hardest hit states in the country. New Jersey was also one of the first states to react to the crisis in a meaningful, substantive way. Then Governor Chris Christie enacted plans to mitigate the harm caused by the crisis. He was later appointed by then President Trump to spearhead the national response to the opioid crisis.

When Governor Christie left office, Governor Phil Murphy picked up where he left off, without missing a beat. Currently, the State of New Jersey manages a comprehensive, evidence-based, data-driven response to the opioid crisis.

In January, the Governor’s office released a press release – Governor Murphy Signs Legislative Package to Expand Harm Reduction Efforts – detailing the latest statewide efforts to help residents of New Jersey react to this ongoing public health crisis.

We’re relieved to learn the state government still has their eyes on this crisis. While the nation was preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis did not disappear. In fact – in most states – it got worse.

We operate opioid treatment programs in three counties in New Jersey where there is significant treatment need:

• In Warren County, we offer medication-assisted treatment for people with opioid use disorder at Stateline Medical in Phillipsburg, NJ.
• In Mercer County, we offer medication-assisted treatment for people with opioid use disorder at Hamilton Treatment Services in Hamilton, NJ.
• In Monmouth County, we offer medication-assisted treatment for people with opioid use disorder at Middletown Medical in Red Bank, NJ.

We’ll share the data rates of treatment in those counties in a moment, which will explain why we highlight these counties. First, we’ll outline the latest statewide initiatives included in the legislative package passed earlier this year.

The Opioid Crisis: Timeline and Overdose Deaths in New Jersey

To understand the why behind the current state-level response to the opioid crisis in New Jersey, it’s important to understand the what and how behind the nationwide opioid crisis. To that end, we’ll provide a quick review of how we got to this moment. What many people may learn here is that the opioid crisis did not happen overnight. It developed over decades. Yes, that’s not a typo: most of us first heard of the opioid crisis around 2015, and most of us probably thought it was new – which is not an accurate understanding of the situation.

Here’s the real timeline, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

1990s – 2010

Overprescribing of opioid medication resulted in a gradual increase in overdose deaths between 1990 and 2000, and a sharp increase between 2005 and 2010.

2010 – 2013

Around 2010, lawmakers began to enact rules around prescription opioids. This caused users of prescription opioids to turn to illicit heroin, in what’s called the prescription to addiction pathway. This, in turn, led to an increase in heroin-related overdose death across the country.

2013 – Present

Called Wave 3 by the CDC, this phase of the opioid crisis is driven by the presence of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Fentanyl is a significant problem in New Jersey. Data shows fentanyl is involved in a majority of recent heroin seizures and opioid deaths in New Jersey.

Now let’s look at the suspected drug overdose deaths in New Jersey since 2018. The data here comes from the Opioid Crisis Dashboard, one of the earlier efforts instituted by Governor Christie to help state and local officials use data to target their efforts to reduce the harm caused by the opioid crisis.

Here’s the data:

• 2018: 3101 suspected drug deaths
• 2019: 2995 suspected drug deaths
• 2020: 3050 suspected drug deaths
• 2021: 3124 suspected drug deaths
• 2022: 1005 suspected drug deaths as of May 5^th, 2022

That’s why New Jersey needed to expand their efforts to counter the negative impact of the opioid crisis: things are getting worse.

The Opioid Crisis 2022: New Jersey Reacts

Governor Murphy announced the passage of this legislation with the following message to the citizen of New Jersey:

“Harm reduction is a cornerstone of our strategy, and through this legislation, we are paving the way for long-overdue expansion of…critical services to help people with substance use disorders stay healthy, stay alive, and thrive…we are acknowledging that this crisis cannot be ended through criminalizing critical harm reduction that prevent[s] fatal overdose and transmission of disease.”

To learn more about harm reduction in the treatment of opioid use disorder, please read our article:

Opioid Crisis Report: COVID-19 Increased Overdose Risk in Rural Communities

Now let’s look at the bills that were just signed into law in New Jersey:

Bill S3009/A4847

This bill authorizes the expansion of harm reduction services that provide on-the-ground support to people who use drugs intravenously, in order to mitigate the spread of IV-related infectious disease

Bill S3493/A5458

This bill expunges previous criminal records around the possession of intravenous drug paraphernalia and decriminalizes possession of supplies – e.g., syringes – related to IV drug use.

Bill S3493/A5458

This bill establishes funding for local overdose fatality review panels. These panels will use data to help target funding in areas with citizens most vulnerable to opioid use disorder, opioid overdoes, and fentanyl related overdose involving additional drugs, such as methamphetamine and cocaine.

It’s clear the current focus in New Jersey is on harm reduction.

Why?

Because New Jersey has already taken proactive steps in every other area related to the opioid crisis. To read about the programs already active in New Jersey, please navigate to the NJ CARES website. Here are the five primary ongoing efforts in the state, as reported by the Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey:

Accountability

The Attorney General (AG) brought lawsuits against “…corporations and individuals most responsible for the opioid crisis, including the country’s largest opioid manufacturer.” This shows that the state government in New Jersey is not intimidated by the resources these companies can marshal in response to these lawsuits: one of the companies named is the largest corporation in the state.

Law Enforcement

State, local, and federal law enforcement officials have prosecuted individuals and groups involved in trafficking heroin, fentanyl, and other illicit opioids to the state of New Jersey. In 2019, NJ police shut down heroin production sites linked to more than 350 overdoses and over 100 overdose deaths. In addition, police have pursued any and all people involved in opioid diversion, including physicians selling pills on the black market and “…other white collar criminals…” who have caused harm to the people of New Jersey by distributing prescription pills illegally.

Treatment and Recovery

In 2018, the NJ CARES program, in coordination with local officials, expanded a program called that began in 2016 called Operation Helping Hand (OHH). OHH is a program whereby law enforcement officials such as police officers can connect people arrested for heroin possession – or other drugs – directly to drug treatment programs, which helps get these individuals out of the criminal justice system and into effective, evidence-based treatment programs. In addition, OHH has been directly involved in the distribution of over 2000 doses of the life-saving overdose reversal drug, Naloxone, by police, community organizers, and other first responders.

Prescription Monitoring

The state of New Jersey initiated and maintains a robust Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). This program does two things. First, it enables doctors, pharmacists, and police to identify where and how legal opiate medication is diverted for illegal purpose. Second, when evidence shows medical professionals overprescribe or divert opioids, the AG works to revoke their accreditation and professional licensure.

Data-Driven State Programs

Click on any of the New Jersey websites above and it becomes clear the state is serious about collecting, disseminating, and using data on the opioid crisis to help mitigate its effects. In addition to the public resources we mention, the state created the Integrated Drug Awareness Dashboard. Here’s how the state describes this platform: “Public health and safety entities seeking to more effectively advance their respective missions are given role-based and right-to-know access to IDAD data so that they can conduct statistical and spatial analyses to bolster their understanding of the drug environment.”

Those five programs put New Jersey at the leading edge of the curve in our nationwide efforts to address the opioid crisis in the U.S. However, there is still work to do. The recent influx of fentanyl has exacerbated the situation. In fact, data from 2019 shows that fentanyl was present in 75 percent of overdose deaths in the state.

What that means to us is that we need to enhance our efforts to treat people with addiction disorders who need treatment. That brings us back to something we mentioned at the beginning of this article: our presence in three counties where there is a significant, demonstrated need for treatment services.

Treatment Programs Focus Efforts in Vulnerable Counties

We mentioned three specific counties where we operate addiction treatment centers. We’ll discuss those locations again, and include the latest data on the need for treatment in each county.

Warren County

• Stateline Medical in Phillipsburg, NJ offers medication-assisted treatment for people with OUD.
• Warren County, Percentage of Unmet Demand for Treatment:
  • 2018: 35%
  • 2019: 37%
  • 2020: 75%

Mercer County

• Hamilton Treatment Services in Hamilton, NJ offers medication-assisted treatment for people with OUD.
• Mercer County, Percentage of Unmet Demand for Treatment:
  • 2018: 39%
  • 2019: 37%
  • 2020: 83%

Monmouth County

• Middletown Medical in Red Bank, NJ offers medication-assisted treatment for people with opioid use disorder.
• Monmouth County, Percentage of Unmet Demand for Treatment:
  • 2018: 38%
  • 2019: 39%
  • 2020: 82%

We can see the trends from the last five years in the data above. Efforts to support the citizens of New Jersey began to take hold – and yield positive outcomes – in 2018 and 2019, but the pandemic reduced the number of people in need of treatment who received treatment. Experts call that the treatment gap. Between 2019 and 2020 in those three counties, the percentage of unmet need doubled. In Warren County, 75 percent of the people who needed treatment didn’t get it. In Mercer County, 82 percent of the people who needed treatment didn’t get it, and finally, in Monmouth County, 83 percent of the people who needed treatment didn’t get it.

That’s why we’re there.

Our mission is to offer evidence-based addiction treatment to the people who need it most. We meet people where they are, and offer compassionate, lifesaving treatment. Right now, the people of New Jersey need our support. We have a saying here at Pinnacle: Any door you come through is the right door.

Right now, our doors at Stateline Medical in Phillipsburg, NJ, at Hamilton Treatment Services in Hamilton, NJ, and Middletown Medical in Red Bank, NJ are open – and we’re ready to help.

By Jennifer Skokowski, MS, CADC, Regional Director, New Jersey, Pinnacle Treatment Centers

The post The Opioid Crisis in New Jersey: Update for 2022 appeared first on Pinnacle Treatment Centers.

Join us for the opening celebration of our partial hospitalization program (PHP) in Newport News, Virginia, for men and women struggling with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD/trauma.

American Addiction Treatment Center has two locations in Newport News—one for opioid addiction treatment where we provide methadone, buprenorphine and counseling, and this new center for intensive group therapy and skill building five days per week. Recovery housing is available for qualifying patients in our PHP.

Both programs accept Medicaid.

RSVP by April 15th to:

Melissa Brown, CSAC
Regional Community Engagement Administrator Pinnacle Treatment Centers
804-466-2141
melissa.brown@pinnacletreatment.com

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Join us for the unveiling of our residential treatment center as part of our comprehensive addiction treatment campus.

Featuring special guests Indiana Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, Douglas Huntsinger, Executive Director for Drug Prevention, Treatment and Enforcement, and City of Martinsville Mayor Kenny Costin.

Upon total completion, Recovery Works Martinsville will provide inpatient psychiatric services for individuals struggling with substance use disorder, detox/withdrawal management, drug and alcohol residential treatment, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs with recovery housing, and general outpatient care.

Also on campus, Martinsville Treatment Services will provide outpatient opioid addiction treatment.

RSVP to

Leah Scott, MBA | Executive Director Recovery Works Martinsville
317-690-6568
leah.scott@pinnacletreatment.com

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AATOD 2021 Conference

Addiction professionals, counselors, nurses, physicians, and anyone interested in learning more about medication-assisted treatment (MAT), please join us next month at the world’s premier training and education event for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

Hosted by the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD), this all-virtual conference will feature a special presentation by Pinnacle’s Dr. Lori Ryland and Holly Broce on the “Utilization of Performance Metrics, Dashboards, and Clinical Outcomes Data to Improve Patient Care.”

We hope to see you as we all come together to communicate, share ideas, and enjoy a shared online experience.

Click here to register for the conference

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504 Grand Valley Blvd.
Martinsville, Indiana

RSVP by April 2nd
Peggy Gemperline, VP, Residential Services, Pinnacle Treatment Centers
614-943-1680
peggy.gemperline@pinnacletreatment.com

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Social workers, marriage & family therapists, and professional counselors—join Pinnacle’s Jason Snyder, Dr. Mandy Fauble of UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor, and NASW-PA for a session on De-Stigmatizing Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. Two CEs offered.

Register here

The post De-Stigmatizing Medication Assisted Treatment: Labels, Language and Lived Experiences appeared first on Pinnacle Treatment Centers.