CLEARWATER, Fla. — More than 150 hospitals and 200 treatment programs are working to save countless people from opioid overdoses across New York state.
It's all part of the Matters Program, which was originally launched in Buffalo, NY, in 2016.
The program's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joshua Lynch, DO, gave an update on the program at a medical conference in Clearwater.
"We started the Matters Program in an attempt to offer patients in the emergency department something better than a list of phone numbers that didn't work," he said.
He said every week, they connect patients to thousands of substance-use treatment appointments and peer-support networks.
The program also launched "stigma-free" vending machines that provide people with access to Narcan and drug-testing kits.
"When you're able to show them on an app that they get to pick from 20 different treatment organizations that have already agreed to see patients just like them it's a game changer, you can watch their face and their demeanor totally turnaround. When you say, 'Hey, you get to pick,'" he said.
In November of 2023, ABC Action News shared a story about a similar program that had been launched in the emergency room at Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg called Pinellas Matters.
"I think it's amazing, I do," said Rhonda Viola, a recovery peer specialist for the program, "It's truly amazing because we identify and connect with that person on a different level."
In the year and a half since its launch, Pinellas County leaders said they've helped more than 300 people seek treatment.
And now, the two programs are hoping to come together and share best practices. Dr. Lynch told ABC Action News that he's already had meetings with the Pinellas County Department of Health.
"We look to continuing to work with them to continue to increase the capacity of their program and maybe align a little bit further this year," he said.
