Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1381712
10 HE ALTH • Summer 2021 H • By Stephen MacLeod Opioid deaths were held in check for three years until 2020, when they hit a new high, leaving health officials to enhance their efforts T he city of Worcester and its healthcare providers embraced novel approaches to handle Massachusetts' other health cri- sis in a year where the coronavi- rus pandemic took center stage. Opioid deaths across the state rose 5% in 2020, but fell 13% in the city of Worcester, according to a report released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on May 12. There were 125 overdose deaths in Worcester in 2020 compared to 144 in 2019. However, people from Worcester who died of overdose rose 21% from 81 to 98. One treatment development of the pandemic was the rapid advancement of telehealth services. Dr. Heidi Ginter, chief medical officer of the Massachusetts sites of Recovery Centers of America in Westminster and Danvers, said telehealth allowed more access for outcare patients. RCA is likely to continue telehealth options going forward. "One of the reasons is people have become really accustomed to it," Ginter said. "It's more comfortable. It's more normative. The other thing it allows is for those individuals who don't have access to good transportation or who don't have access to good childcare, wherever you are, you can log in and get the care that you need. So you don't have to have a car, and you don't have to have a babysitter." The Recovery Centers of America has a 24-hour helpline for people, 1-800-RECOVERY, available for people seeking help. Targeting underserved populations However, the pandemic exposed exacerbated equality issues. According to data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, death rates for white people fell while rates for Black or Hispanic people went up. "COVID both mitigated and exacerbated different access issues that a lot of people were suddenly thrust into a telemedicine environment pretty quickly and that The OPIOID tide is RISING Dr. Matilde Castiel, commissioner for health & human services at the City of Worcester, has launched initiatives targeting population at-risk of opioid abuse. IMAGE/ADOBE STOCK.COM PHOTO/CONTRIBUTED