State officials presented Wednesday to lawmakers details on a pilot program that will dispense medications for treating substance use disorder at public health offices. The New Mexico Department of Health has already been providing prescriptions to be filled elsewhere, but this is the first time they will be offering the medications themselves.
DOH Secretary Gina DeBlassie said in addition to the medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, they will offer counseling and use mobile health units to reach underserved and rural areas. However, getting pharmaceutical and federal licensing, and updated security for field offices, including cameras and special doors, must be completed before they can begin offering services.
“I wish I could say that that’s gonna happen within the next 30 to 60 days, but I think it’s just gonna take us a little bit, particularly from a licensing perspective,” she said. “So really my goal would be to have this up and running before the end of the year at the latest.”
According to a DOH report, more than 9,000 New Mexicans need MAT, but are not in treatment, and many who are must travel for hours to see a provider. Moreover, in the last year since DOH began expanding medication-assisted treatment by offering prescriptions, only 324 people have gone to their public health offices to gain access to these medications.
That’s why DeBlassie said a major focus for DOH going forward will be advertising, marketing and outreach. They plan to work with the Health Care Authority and private providers, as well as other community resources, like prenatal care programs, to ensure the public knows they can get help at public health offices.
“We need to have boots on the ground with our health promotion team and through other marketing efforts in order to provide enhanced outreach. We shouldn’t sit back and wait for individuals to come to us,” she said. “There are individuals within the community that are in need of treatment and I can guarantee you they do not know the public health office is a resource and we’re working to change that.”
She said DOH will be hiring a coordinating manager who will be responsible for working with other organizations to increase the amount of referrals to public health offices.
Doña Ana, Rio Arriba and Curry counties will be the first three areas to start offering the services as part of the pilot program.
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