Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | June 22, 2020 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F Mass. opioid deaths fell 6% at the start of 2020 V E R BAT I M The next move "I do not take lightly making a transition of this nature during such troubling times. However, it is important for me to be in a place where I can make the greatest contributions to society and the world." Outgoing UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert Johnson, the first African-American chancellor at the school and former president of Becker College in Worcester, explaining his resignation before announcing he will join Western New England University as its new president Medical sector financial hit "This will be by far the worst financial year in the history of the system." UMass Memorial Medical Center President Michael Gustafson, speaking during a Worcester Business Journal online forum with local healthcare leaders, discussing the front line impact of the pandemic. Following your dreams "Overall, I still feel strongly it was the right choice." Ryan Canuel, co-founder and CEO of Worcester video game developer Petricore Inc., reflecting on his decision five years ago to start a company while still a senior at Becker College O pioid deaths across Massachusetts fell 5.7% during the first quarter of this year compared to 2019, according to new state data reported on June 10. e improvement comes just as the state was starting to deal with another health crisis: the coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, it continues a drop from the height of the state's opioid deaths in 2016. In addition to the first quarter 2020 numbers, the Massachusetts Depart- ment of Public Health on June 10 released the total opioid-related death toll for 2019 in the state and individual cities. Opioid deaths last year across Massachusetts were down 4% from the 2016 peak of 2,102, according to DPH. Deaths have exceeded 2,000 for four straight years, including the 2,031 deaths in 2019. City & town trends Worcester was among five communi- ties highlighted for having a particularly notable decrease among residents in opioid deaths from 2018 to 2019. Deaths fell year-to-year from 98 to 78, a drop of just over 20%, giving the city its lowest annual overdose number for residents since it had 74 in 2016. e city continues to have a major challenge with overdose deaths taking place in Worcester, whether or not they are residents. Worcester had 141 overdose deaths take place in the city in 2019, up 5% from the prior year and the highest in at least the past five years. at's the highest of any city or town in the state outside Boston. Leominster had 32 opioid deaths take place in that city, up from 24 the year before. Gardner, on the other hand, fell from 23 to six. e first quarter of 2020 had 467 con- firmed and estimated deaths across the state, putting Massachusetts on track for 1,868. If that pace holds, the state would experience a 11% drop from its 2016 peak in deaths. State officials said they're committed to fighting the opioid epidemic while working through the coronavirus pan- demic. DPH provided more than 13,000 kits for the opioid antidote naloxone and more than 1,000 kits that included nal- oxone and local resources to help reduce the risk of accidental overdoses among high-risk populations. Among other trends reported June 10, the synthetic opioid fentanyl con- tinues to play a role in a larger share of overdoses. Fentanyl was present in 94% of deaths in 2019, according to the state. Heroin, which is less potent than fentanyl, was found in 24% of toxicology screens in opioid deaths. W BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Worcester City Hall

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