Senator Hassan Introduces Bipartisan Opioid Workforce Act
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation earlier this week to help combat substance misuse by creating 1,000 new medical residency positions at hospitals in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain management.
The legislation is backed by Dartmouth-Hitchcock, which could hire and train up to 25 new doctors through the bill.
See below for highlights of the coverage on Senator Hassan’s bipartisan bill:
Union Leader: Bill would fund up to 1,000 residencies to train addiction docs
Sen. Maggie Hassan introduced a bill Tuesday that could fund 25 new residency positions in New Hampshire — and up to 1,000 across the country.
The residency positions would help train more doctors in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry and pain management, in an effort to help more people with substance use disorders, and to stop more people from getting hooked on pain pills.
[…]Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is New Hampshire’s only teaching hospital. In a statement, Joanne M. Conroy, the hospital system’s CEO and president said in a statement that she supported the effort.
“This legislation will provide critical resources to bolster our work in training the next generation of front line health care providers,” she said.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is also sponsoring the bill, which is a companion to a bill introduced in the House earlier this year. Reps. Ann Kuster and Chris Pappas of New Hampshire are co-sponsors of the House bill.
Nashua Telegraph: Hassan, Collins introduce Opioid Workforce Act
Fentanyl and heroin continue inflicting hardship on communities throughout the nation, including for employers who may have workers struggling with addiction.
Hoping to mitigate the suffering, U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced the bipartisan Opioid Workforce Act to help hospitals hire and train doctors in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, and pain management.
The measure aims to create 1,000 new medical residency positions at teaching hospitals in New Hampshire, Maine, and across the country.
“As we grapple with the devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic, we know that hospitals need more doctors trained in addiction and pain management in order to treat substance misuse and prevent patients from becoming addicted to opioids in the first place,” Hassan said. “Dartmouth-Hitchcock and hospitals across the country are engaged in cutting-edge research and life-saving efforts to combat substance misuse, and my bipartisan bill with Sen. Collins will help ensure that these hospitals have the resources that they need to create and expand their addiction prevention and treatment programs.”
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Seacoast Online: Opioid Workforce Act would grow addiction medicine manpower
U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Susan Collins have introduced the bipartisan Opioid Workforce Act, designed to support hospitals in growing their addiction medicine manpower. The proposed legislation could create 1,000 new medical residency positions at teaching hospitals in New Hampshire, Maine and across the country.
The legislation would capitalize on hiring and training doctors in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry and pain management by amending the Social Security Act to fund the additional residency positions. Joanne M. Conroy, CEO and president of Dartmouth-Hitchcock, New Hampshire’s only academic health system, said the bill would “provide critical resources to bolster our work in training the next generation of front line health care providers.”
Per the Association of American Medical Colleges, in 2016, more than 20 million adults needed substance use disorder treatment, but only 11% received it.
According to Collins, there is currently only one addiction medicine residency program in Maine, where in 2017, the state was among the top 10 with the highest overdose deaths involving opioids in the country.
New Hampshire was hit even harder, ranking among the top five states in the country with the highest overdose deaths. There were 490 drug overdose deaths involving opioids in 2017, according to the state Office of Chief Medical Examiner, more than twice the average national rate of 14.6 deaths per 100,000 persons.
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