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COVER STORY
Drug overdoses claimed 64,000 American lives in 2016 — more lives than the AIDS epidemic at its height and up 22 percent from just a year before. In Delaware, 308 people died from overdoses in 2016, compared to 228 in the previous year.
“The opioid epidemic is a major catastrophe hitting our community,” said Terry Horton, M.D., FACP, FASAM, chief
of the Division of Addiction Medicine and associate physician leader of the Behavioral Health Service Line at Christiana Care.
Heartbreaking stories of people who became addicted to prescription painkillers and then turned to cheaper heroin are all too common across the nation and in our local community. For all its tragedy, the national crisis also is awakening a greater understanding of addiction — and the strategies that are effective in addressing it.
At Christiana Care’s 5th Annual Addiction Medicine Symposium in August, more than 200 experts from psychology, law enforcement, government, treatment clinics and addiction medicine gathered to share information and learn about the ways that Christiana Care is successfully tackling the many facets of this public health challenge.
Christiana Care is adapting to the ongoing opioid crisis in
its hospitals and in the community. This work includes a groundbreaking opioid withdrawal clinical pathway — featured recently on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition — which screens hospital admissions to find people going through withdrawal and connects them with resources to overcome their addiction. It also includes efforts to reduce opioid prescription, increase access to care, enhance care for infants and families impacted by opioids and much more.
IN 2016,
DRUG OVERDOSES CLAIMED 64,000 AMERICAN LIVES
MORE LIVES THAN THE AIDS EPIDEMIC AT ITS HEIGHT AND UP 22 PERCENT FROM JUST A YEAR BEFORE.
“Addiction is a brain disease,” Dr. Horton said. Like other diseases, medical science offers tools that can help. Christiana Care Health System is a national leader in identifying and implementing these tools.
As Dr. Horton and his colleagues work to help patients in Delaware overcome their addiction, he also works to build understanding nationally about the nature of the problem and teaches others how to meet these challenges in their own communities.
CRITICAL MOMENTS OF INTERVENTION
When Austin Blanco recalls key life moments, like learning he was going to be a father and holding his son for the first time, he remembers exactly where he was: Christiana Hospital.
Since 2015, Blanco has been admitted three times for six-week treatments of a serious heart infection caused by intravenous drug use. | CONTINUED
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