Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | October 2, 2023 | wbjournal.com Member FDIC Member DIF WE HELP KEEP YOUR BUSINESS GROWING. Call one of our experienced commercial lenders at 800-649-3036 or email us at commercial@saversbank.com. Simply Beter. Commercial Loans, Business Banking and So Much More. saversbank.com/ businessbanking Statewide, fentanyl was present in 93% of those 2022 deaths. Fentanyl has been a game changer in the worst way for individuals suffering from opioid addictions, said Nolan. Its pervasiveness means it is oen cut into other drugs, further endangering the population without their knowledge. "We are oen telling patients for the first time they've used it," said Nolan. "ey don't realize it's in their system." Within the city of Worcester, there has been an even greater increase in deaths. e city saw 140 opioid-related deaths in 2022, a 33.3% increase since the year prior. It is the highest total number of opioid-related deaths in the city for a single year, according to DPH data. Opioid-use disorder disproportion- ately impacts disadvantaged groups, and racial minorities represented a large proportion of opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts. Statewide, opioid-related death increases are at the highest rate among Black, non-Hispanic residents, according to DPH data. Among that group, the rate increased by 42% from 2021 to 2022, 36.4 to 51.7 deaths per 100,000 residents. e over- all opioid-related death rate per 100,000 residents is 33.5. Reaching struggling populations New programs are looking to address issues of equity, said Dr. Matilde Castiel, commissioner of health and human services for the City of Worcester. Castiel was instrumental in leading Worcester to open vaccine equity clinics across the city during the COVID pan- demic and ensuring services remained open, particularly for residents suffering from the co-occurring opioid epidemic and mental health crisis. She likens the opioid approach to what was done with the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic, where- in healthcare providers went out into the community to make accessing the vaccine easier and medical care less intimidating. ere is a lot of mistrust of the system, said Castiel, and meeting people where they are helps to break that down. "We are thinking about how to reach Dr. Matilde Castiel, Worcester's commissioner of health and human services Continued from previous page Opioid-related deaths, Worcester County Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 2019 2020 2021 2022 267 280 281 331 Opioid-related deaths, in Worcester County out to the members of the community that weren't getting to us," said Castiel. "How do we go out and reach people not accessing the system?" Bringing more patients in for treat- ment has the goal of reducing that fatal outcome statistic. "Fatal outcomes are from people not in treatment. ose are the people we need to get to," DiRoberto said. Care teams at Spectrum are notified if individuals receiving treatment in their program have fatal outcomes. ose in active treatment are not among those reported to them, she said. People not receiving any kind of treatment are the most at risk for fatal overdose. When compared, those receiving methadone treatment have a 59% reduced chance of overdose than those receiving no treatment, accord- ing to a 2018 National Institutes of Health-funded study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Yet despite their effectiveness, the physical barriers to opioid-use disor- der treatment, like distance or lack of transportation, aren't the only thing pre- venting would-be patients from seeking medicated assistance. "ere's a stigma regarding every medication-assisted treatment out there," said Castiel. Medication-assisted opioid-use disor- der treatment recognizes addiction is a disease, which it is, said Castiel. "When people are coming to us, they're no longer using to get high. ey are using to get out of bed in the morning," said DiRoberto. "ey're using to function." Methadone helps with severe withdrawal symptoms, so patients can function, participate in therapy, work, and take care of their families. "Folks medicating every day is the best thing they can do," said DiRoberto. W

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