CLEVELAND, Ohio– The MetroHealth System will open an Opioid Safety Office in July which it says will help identify patients at risk of abusing the highly addictive drugs and doctors who may need education on prescribing.
The goal of the new office is education, advocacy and improved treatment, according to a news release.
The office will also use data to “identify patients who may be at risk of opioid abuse” and use prescribing patterns to “educate providers on policy and best practices for safe opioid use.”
“MetroHealth has been at the epicenter of the opioid overdose epidemic,” Dr. Bernie Boulanger, MetroHealth executive vice president and chief clinical officer said in a news release. Kolaybet “Cuyahoga County experienced nearly double the number of opioid overdoses in 2016 than the year before.”
Dr. Joan Papp, an emergency medicine physician and director of Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided with Naloxone), will lead the new office. Project DAWN, a regional opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution program, distributes free naloxone kits in 40 Ohio counties to opioid users, those in recovery for opioid use disorder and those who may witness an overdose.
Overdoses of opioids, including heroin, fentanyl and their relatives, killed a record 2,590 Ohioans in 2015, accounting for 85 percent of all overdose deaths.
The spike in overdoses statewide has been straining hospital and rehabilitation resources, with not enough detox beds available to keep pace and too many opportunities for patients in treatment to lose services.
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