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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; As the state budget deadline once again looms, state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski on Monday toured CleanSlate Addiction Treatment Center to learn how proposed funding cuts would hurt treatment for opioid addiction.</p><p>Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said more than 3,500 Pennsylvanians died from opioid overdoses in 2016 and 2017 projections are even higher.</p><p>&#8220;This is an epidemic,&#8221; Pashinski said. &#8220;We need to make sure these centers receive the funding they need to fight this problem.&#8221;</p><p>After the tour, Pashinski sat down with staff members of CleanSlate, reiterated the importance of proper funding in fighting the epidemic, and expressed the need to reinstate funding that House Republicans cut from Gov. Tom Wolf&#8217;s budget proposal.</p><p>&#8220;Today&#8217;s tour did nothing but strengthen my belief that we are facing a crisis in Pennsylvania that&#8217;s impacting mothers and fathers, sons and daughters and friends and neighbors across all political, racial and religious boundaries,&#8221; Pashinski said. &#8220;In 2015, more Pennsylvanians died from drug overdoses than car crashes. Facilities like CleanSlate are instrumental in helping those who become addicted receive the treatment and care they need while getting back to a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle.&#8221;</p><p>Jen McMahon, national director of care coordination for CleanSlate, said her company is a multi-state medical group that provides treatment for the chronic disease of addiction, primarily alcohol and opioid-use disorders.</p><p>The city site is located on East Market Street.</p><p><strong>&#8216;We have a responsibility&#8217;</strong></p><p>CleanSlate is designated as one of Pennsylvania&#8217;s Centers of Excellence, a program instituted by Wolf that helps ensure that people with opioid-related issues stay in treatment to receive follow-up care and are supported within their communities. The centers coordinate care for people with Medicaid, and treatment is team-based and &#8220;whole-person&#8221; focused, with the explicit goal of integrating behavioral health and primary care.</p><p><ins>&#8220;CleanSlate&#8217;s Centers of Excellence status in Pennsylvania is a reflection of our commitment to expanding access to coordinated, effective addiction treatment across the state,&#8221; Adam McPhee, eastern division president for CleanSlate, said in an emailed response. &#8220;Today&#8217;s opioid crisis is too sprawling to be addressed in silos, and we strive to be the partner of choice for healthcare providers, health insurers, governmental entities and lawmakers in the collective fight against the disease of addiction.&#8221;</ins></p><p>Pashinski said the House plan, which is currently under consideration in the Senate, would cut $4.03 million from the governor&#8217;s proposal for the Centers of Excellence. The House proposal would also add $5 million for emergency addiction treatment and $3 million for specialty courts, Pashinski said. But overall, it would still cut $9.64 million Wolf had earmarked for fighting the opioid and heroin epidemic. The state budget is supposed to be passed by June 30.</p><p>&#8220;According to the Centers for Disease Control, Pennsylvania saw a 20.1 percent increase in drug overdose deaths between 2014 and 2015, which ranks 13th highest in the nation,&#8221; Pashinski noted. &#8220;CleanSlate and other Centers of Excellence provide invaluable assistance in taking a multi-faceted approach to make sure those who are addicted get the help they need.&#8221;</p><p>McMahon said the Wilkes-Barre CleanSlate center received a $500,000 grant through the Centers of Excellence program. She said the money is used primarily for the hiring of critical recovery specialists who are charged with identifying clients in need of treatment.</p><p>&#8220;Without that money, far less people will be helped,&#8221; McMahon said.</p><p>McMahon said about 95 percent of the Wilkes-Barre CleanSlate&#8217;s 500-plus patients are struggling with some form of opioid abuse. She said the patient total has doubled over the last two years, with clients ranging in age from 19 to 70 and requiring anywhere from six months to several years of treatment.</p><p>The center prescribes Suboxone and Vivitrol to clients. She said the treatment drugs block receptors in the brain that create cravings for the opioids.</p><p>&#8220;This morning we saw that what CleanSlate is doing works,&#8221; Pashinski said after the tour. &#8220;Their programs are helping people get the treatment and the follow-up care they need that allows them to regain control of their life. This is not the time to reduce our efforts to save lives. We have a responsibility to do everything we can to prevent this disaster from worsening.&#8221;</p><p>Earlier this month, Wolf commended state Attorney General Josh Shapiro for taking on a leadership role in a bipartisan investigation of opioid marketing and addiction in Pennsylvania and across the country.</p><p>&#8220;It is undeniable that powerful and over-prescribed prescription drugs have played a significant role in the deadly addiction crisis facing Pennsylvania and states across the country,&#8221; Wolf said at a news conference. &#8220;While we have taken steps to expand treatment for those suffering and expand resources for law enforcement and health professionals, the death toll is still rising in our state.&#8221;</p><p>The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency&#8217;s most recent statistics on fatal overdoses in Pennsylvania show a 37 percent spike in 2016 compared to 2015. Of those 4,642 fatal overdoses, the DEA attributed 85 percent to prescription or illegal opioids, including heroin, according to a report provided by the governor&#8217;s office.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A client of CleanSlate shows a wrapper for the medication Suboxone, which is used to treat opioid addiction. The wrapper contains a lot number so it can be tracked. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_TTL062717clean-slate1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>A client of CleanSlate shows a wrapper for the medication Suboxone, which is used to treat opioid addiction. The wrapper contains a lot number so it can be tracked. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_TTL062717CleanSlate2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jen McMahon, national director of care coordination for CleanSlate centers, discusses the opioid epidemic while state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, at right, listens. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_TTL062717CleanSlate2-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Jen McMahon, national director of care coordination for CleanSlate centers, discusses the opioid epidemic while state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, at right, listens. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Pashinski fighting state cutsto opioid treatment funding</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pashinski fighting cuts in funding for opioid treatment