Wisconsin awarded $16.1M to help combat opioid crisis

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Wednesday, Sept. 19 $16,186,583 in opioid-related funding to help Wisconsin combat the crisis. Nationwide, HHS awarded a total of over $1 billion to all states.

The awards, administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) support HHS’s Five-Point Opioid Strategy, which was launched last year and enhanced this week.

The $11,979,333 in SAMHSA awards will help to increase access to medication-assisted treatment using the three FDA-approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder, reducing unmet treatment need, and reducing opioid overdose related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment and recovery activities for opioid use disorder.

The $4,207,250 in HRSA awards will enable 15 HRSA-funded community health centers and or, academic institutions, and rural organizations in Wisconsin expand access to integrated substance use disorder and mental health services.

Officials say the opioid crisis claimed more than 130 lives per day in 2017.