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DANVILLE -- Geisinger has been awarded $2.38 million from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to enhance care for patients with substance use disorder (SUD).
The funding will support the development of new fellowship programs to train advanced practice providers, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, as well as licensed clinical social workers, to provide addiction treatment in the primary care setting.
"Identifying substance use disorder at the primary care level allows for earlier diagnosis, treatment or referral to specialty care, which can improve overall outcomes," said Margaret Jarvis, M.D., chief of addiction medicine at Geisinger. "Increasing the number of trained addiction medicine providers in the primary care setting will improve access to care in the long term, which is critical for the long recovery period often associated with substance use disorder."
SUD continues to be a significant public health issue in Pennsylvania. In 2020, nearly 300,000 Pennsylvanians had a drug use disorder, and in 2022, more than 5,000 people died from a drug overdose, according to Pennsylvania's Opioid Data Dashboard.
The HRSA funding will be provided over five years. For more information about Geisinger's addiction medicine care, visit geisinger.org/addiction-treatment.