(The Center Square) – An addiction recovery center in New Mexico will receive federal funding to combat substance abuse and the opioid epidemic.
Santa Fe Recovery Center, Inc. will get $1,524,625 from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico.
The funding will go to overdose prevention, recovery services and addiction treatment. It will also expand the center’s Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Access program with funding secured by the New Mexico delegation in the Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations bill.
“The scale of the opioid crisis demands that we tackle it with every available strategy. This grant is a vital investment in that continued fight. And I will keep pushing to ensure several key provisions included in our annual appropriations and defense authorization bills — including my FEND Off Fentanyl Act — are signed into law,” Heinrich said. “My focus is on delivering the funding and legislative solutions we need to stop the flow of these illicit substances before they ever hit our borders, hold those who traffic these substances within our borders accountable, and ensure those who are suffering from addiction receive the life-saving treatment they need.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico, said the funding will help New Mexicans get evidence-based treatment to negate the impact of the opioid epidemic.
“As the opioid crisis impacts New Mexico and states across the country, improving access to high-quality care and recovery services must be a priority,” said Luján. “That’s why I’m glad to welcome this federal investment that will help address this crisis by investing in the Santa Fe Recovery Center. This funding will improve access to evidence-based treatments, like Medication-Assisted Treatment, that help reduce overdoses and keep New Mexicans on a path to recovery.”
And U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-New Mexico, said the funding will benefit the state’s rural residents.
“The opioid epidemic has taken too many of our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters,” Leger Fernández said in the release. “These grants will help the Santa Fe Recovery Center save lives. They will provide life-saving overdose prevention, addiction recovery, and mental health services for rural communities across the state. I will continue to work to make sure all New Mexicans have access to this type of life-saving care and services.”
Here is how the funds will be appropriated, according to the release:
HHS is awarding $999,625 to the Santa Fe Recovery Center, Inc. through the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program aimed at preventing substance use disorder in rural communities, particularly by expanding the Medication Assisted Treatment Access program. This funding will help prescribers treat substance use disorder in New Mexico and eliminate access gaps to life-saving drugs like buprenorphine, which Heinrich has advocated for. HHS is awarding $525,000 to the Santa Fe Recovery Center, Inc. through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration aimed at improving the rehabilitation center’s ability to treat and prevent substance use disorder and related mental health disorders.
The more than $1.5 million appropriated is the latest funding secured by the state’s congressional delegation to combat the opioid epidemic.
Late last month, Heinrich and Luján announced 24 local projects in the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill they say will improve healthcare access and assist providers in treating mental health and substance abuse problems in New Mexico.
Plus, Heinrich is backing the FEND Off Fentanyl Act. It would create a new fentanyl trafficking system and order the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to “remove barriers to access opioid use disorder medications,” the release said.
