MaineHealth gets $1.2M grant for statewide overdose prevention
MaineHealth has received a $1.2 million federal grant to help prevent drug overdoses and infection complications from substance use across the state, especially in rural areas.
Under the program, specialists at local syringe service programs will dispense fentanyl test strips and wound care kits, as well as naloxone to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. The programs also will partner with Colby College to use spectrometry-based drug checking to help identify how much fentanyl and other contaminants are in drugs circulating throughout Maine.
The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The program, Distribution of Harm reduction Access in Rural Maine Areas (Project DHARMA), is a collaboration among MaineHealth and community organizations including public health agencies, syringe service programs, academic institutions and other treatment providers.
By collaborating with syringe service providers, Project DHARMA expects to serve more than 6,500 clients over three years, in addition to making 7,500 client referrals and 9,000 connections to health care and support services.
“As overdose deaths are at an all-time high in Maine, we feel an urgent need to improve the health of people in our communities,” said Kristen Silvia, an addiction medicine specialist who is co-leading Project DHARMA with infectious disease and addiction specialist Kinna Thakarar. “Harm reduction is an evidence-based set of strategies that reduces the risk of overdose and the infection complications of substance use.”
In Maine, drug overdoses rose about 23% to 636 deaths in 2021, according to estimates from the University of Maine’s Rural Drug & Alcohol Research Program.
“Project DHARMA has the potential to facilitate access to harm reduction supplies and services to people in Maine who need it the most,” Thakarar said. “Harm reduction outreach specialists at the syringe service programs are essential to the success of the project and to improving the health and safety of people using drugs. They are also ideally positioned to help link clients to healthcare and services.”
MaineHealth is the state’s largest health system with about 22,000 employees. It provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire.
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