Centerstone Receives $2.6 Million SAMHSA Grant to Expand MAT Services

Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral health care, recently announced award of a five-year, $2,625,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to expand access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for people with an opioid use disorder (OUD) in the Metro East area of Illinois.

With this grant, Centerstone will help 350 adult OUD clients residing in Calhoun, Madison, Montgomery, Macoupin, Green, Jersey, Bond and St. Clair counties in Illinois, all counties designated as medically underserved areas.

Some startling statistics regarding the counties served by the grant include:

• In St. Clair County from 2017-2018, fatal opioid overdoses increased by 235%
• Jersey (76.8), St. Clair (59.8), Madison (56.9) and Montgomery (47.1) have significantly higher opioid dispensing rates than the state average (43.1)
• Macoupin has a 1,890:1 patient-to-mental health provider ratio
• Only three MAT treatment programs are available in the grant’s counties
• Madison is ranked 2^nd and Jersey 4^th in Illinois for the highest opioid-related emergency room visits
• 42% of those residing in the grant’s counties received prescription opioids, and 599 experienced opioid/heroin overdoses in 2020
• An estimated 5,100 adults in the counties covered by the grant have an OUD and another 3,100+ are expected to have OUD and a co-occurring disorder (COD)

The grant will expand access to MAT services, and increase by 350 the number of persons receiving MAT and maintaining abstinence from opioids such as heroin or pain pills. In addition, the grant will ensure comprehensive treatment for all clients, along with wraparound supports and linkages to other care needed.  Recognizing the new health care environment brought about by COVID-19, the project will provide telehealth services to a minimum of 100 clients.

In addition, persons in recovery along with other providers, family members, and project staff will comprise an advisory group that will guide the project. Collaboration with law enforcement and corrections facilities, staff and community education around OUD and MAT, and improved client outcomes from treatment, are also project goals.

“Prevalent OUD and limited access to treatment in the eight counties results in negative health outcomes,” said Stacy Seitz, Centerstone Clinical Director. “In 2019 in Illinois, 80% of drug overdoses involved opioids compared to 70% nationally. Opioid overdoses caused 2.3 times more deaths than homicide, twice as many deaths as car crashes, and accounted for more than 16,000 emergency management system responses.”