WOONSOCKET, R.I., July 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Health (NYSE:
CVS) announced today that the CVS Health Foundation will award
$330,000 in grants to community
health centers in California
focused on increasing access to opioid addiction treatment and
recovery services. Concurrently, the company is expanding its safe
medication disposal initiative in California, installing 62 safe medication
disposal units in CVS Pharmacy locations across the state to help
facilitate proper and timely disposal of opioids and other
medications that could otherwise be diverted or misused.
"Through the launch of our in-store safe medication disposal
program at CVS Pharmacy locations in California, we aim to help remove unused
prescription medications from medicine cabinets where they could be
otherwise diverted or abused," said Tom
Davis, R.Ph., vice president of professional services for
CVS Health. "We are also pleased to support the work of four
community health centers here in California and their work to promote addiction
recovery, which directly aligns with our purpose of helping people
on their path to better health."
The $330,000 from the CVS Health
Foundation is being distributed to four California community health centers focused on
increasing access to opioid addiction treatment and recovery
services.
The La Maestra Family Clinic in San Diego will use a nearly $85,000 grant to implement a SBIRT (screening,
brief intervention, referral and treatment) approach for patients
to increase the number of patients receiving medication-assisted
treatment and group therapy.
"Substance abuse services are vital to La Maestra patients
because of the increasing need for services," said Javier Rodriguez, MD, chief medical officer at
La Maestra Family Clinic, Inc. "By fully implementing SBIRT at all
primary care sites, there has been an increase in referrals to
treatment. Since 2015, La Maestra has increased SBIRT screening
rates by 408%. With the support of CVS Health, La Maestra is
improving access to quality substance use disorder services in some
of San Diego's most underserved
communities."
AltaMed Health Services in Los Angeles will use an $85,000 grant to implement a pilot that will help
integrate medication assisted treatment (MAT) into its primary care
services. The support will help the clinic increase access to
substance abuse services for over 11,000 adult patients in high
need areas by the end of 2018.
"The opioid epidemic in our country has had far-reaching
consequences that have destroyed lives, broken apart families and
has had devastating effects on the communities we live in," said
Shawn Hamilton, MD, regional medical
director at AltaMed Health Services. "We're proud to join CVS
Health in its nationwide effort to expand access to opioid and
substance abuse treatment to help the communities we serve recover
and lead productive, healthy lives. Through this pilot program,
AltaMed's Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), will provide
patients with a multidisciplinary team approach to address the
complicated disease of addiction."
An $85,000 grant to Marin City
Health & Wellness Center in Marin City will support the creation of new
programs and safe spaces for people in the Marin County community to start the process of
recovery from substance abuse. With the new support, the clinic
will add a psychiatric nurse practitioner to implement exercise,
nutrition and pain management education, peer support recovery
programming to reach more people utilizing MAT services and new
technology to improve recovery support and evaluation.
"This very important funding will allow us to expand our efforts
to reach some of the most critically affected opioid users," said
JayVon Muhammad, CEO, Marin City
Health & Wellness Center. "We have already had much MAT program
success across Marin County, and
staffing and programs funded specifically by this grant will focus
on building trust among residents of Marin City who struggle with opioid use and
the stigma around trauma and behavioral health."
The Sacramento Native American Health Center will
use a more than $76,000 grant to
support patients dealing with substance abuse issues by introducing
new and expanded treatment options like MAT, Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy, and integrative or holistic therapy to help improve
patient outcomes.
"As we have seen in our health center and throughout the media
in recent months, the opioid epidemic has had broad effects,
crossing gender, race, and class boundaries. Patients seeking care
in the federally qualified health center system are at the highest
risk for opioid overdose," said Britta
Guerrero, CEO, Sacramento Native American Health Center.
"Seeing the very personal struggles of our patients and the impacts
of addiction on individuals and families in our community, we are
proud to partner with CVS to expand access through targeted case
management and coordinated care."
CVS Health's safe medication disposal efforts supplement the
company's giving to support opioid addiction recovery. The
company has installed 62 medication disposal units inside CVS
Pharmacy locations across the state. These kiosks will
supplement the 15 units CVS Health has previously donated to police
departments in California.
Nationwide, the company has donated more than 900 units to police
departments, collecting more than 350,000 pounds of unwanted
medication.
The expansion of safe medication disposal to a total of 750 CVS
Pharmacy locations across the U.S. was included among the
enhancements to the company's strategy to address and prevent
opioid abuse announced in September
2017. As part of that effort, the company also said it
would enhance opioid utilization management aligned with CDC
Guideline for CVS Caremark clients and members, complementing
measures already in place.
This work builds on ongoing programs the company operates
including the Pharmacists Teach program, which brings CVS
Pharmacists to local schools to talk to teens and parents about the
dangers of abusing prescription drugs, with more than 61,000 teens
and parents in California having
already participated in the program. CVS Health has also
worked to expand access to the opioid overdose-reversal drug
naloxone in 46 states, including
California.
The 62 new medication disposal units are located at the
following CVS Pharmacy locations:
Anaheim
|
Diamond
Bar
|
Inglewood
|
2011 East La
Palma
|
300 South Diamond Bar
Boulevard
|
222 N. Market
Street
|
Arcadia
|
Downey
|
Irvine
|
1401 S. Baldwin
Avenue
|
7915 Florence
Avenue
|
5385 Alton
Parkway
|
Arvin
|
Escondido
|
Lancaster
|
505 #B Bear Mountain
Boulevard
|
318 W. El Norte
Parkway
|
2006 West Avenue
J
|
Bell
|
Fowler
|
Lancaster
|
7101 Atlantic
Avenue
|
111 E. Merced
Street
|
43839 15th
Street West, Suite P
|
Burbank
|
Fair
Oaks
|
La
Jolla
|
511 N. Hollywood
Way
|
5420 Dewey
Drive
|
8831 Villa La Jolla
Drive
|
Bakersfield
|
Fresno
|
Lamont
|
11300 Ming
Ave
|
4987 N. Fresno
Street
|
8929 Panama Road,
Suite B
|
Canyon
Country
|
Fullerton
|
Long
Beach
|
19424 Soledad Canyon
Road
|
2200 N. Harbor
Boulevard (NEC)
|
233 East Willow
Street
|
Carlsbad
|
Gardena
|
Long
Beach
|
2510 El Camino
Real
|
15700 South Western
Avenue
|
4400 East Los Coyotes
Diagonal
|
Carson
|
Garden
Grove
|
Los
Angeles
|
150 West Carson
Street
|
12031 Brookhurst
Street
|
2530 Glendale
Boulevard
|
Chino
|
Huntington
Beach
|
Los
Angeles
|
12101 Central
Avenue
|
19212 Beach
Boulevard
|
6360 West Third
Street
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Los
Angeles
|
Rancho
Cucamonga
|
Santee
|
3010 South Sepulveda
Boulevard
|
11428 Kenyon
Way
|
9730 Mission Gorge
Road
|
Marina Del
Ray
|
Redlands
|
Sherman
Oaks
|
13171 Mindanao
Way
|
101 Redlands
Mall
|
14735 Ventura
Boulevard
|
Menifee
|
Redlands
|
Stockton
|
26973 Newport
Road
|
2 W. Fern
Avenue
|
2605 West March
Lane
|
Modesto
|
Riverside
|
Tarzana
|
1700 McHenry
Avenue
|
8280 Magnolia
Avenue
|
18441 Ventura
Boulevard
|
Monterey
Park
|
Salinas
|
Temecula
|
2103 South Atlantic
Boulevard
|
1140 S. Main
Street
|
33205 Temecula
Parkway
|
Montrose
|
San
Diego
|
Thousand
Oaks
|
2037 Verdugo
Boulevard
|
1792 Garnet
Avenue
|
2791 Agoura
Road
|
National
City
|
San
Diego
|
Torrance
|
1201 E. Plaza
Boulevard
|
313 Washington
Street
|
5020 West
190th Street
|
Newport
Beach
|
San
Diego
|
Upland
|
1020 Irvine
Avenue
|
3151 University
Avenue
|
100 W. Foothill
Boulevard
|
Orange
|
San
Diego
|
Van
Nuys
|
480 South Main
Street
|
8260 Mira Mesa
Boulevard
|
15232 Sherman
Way
|
Palm
Desert
|
Santa
Ana
|
Whittier
|
42155 Washington
Street
|
3911 South Bristol
Street
|
15466 Whittier
Boulevard
|
|
Santa
Monica
|
Woodland
Hills
|
|
2505 Santa Monica
Boulevard
|
23357 Mulholland
Drive
|
About CVS Health
CVS Health is a pharmacy innovation
company helping people on their path to better health. Through its
more than 9,800 retail locations, more than 1,100 walk-in medical
clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 94
million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business
serving more than one million patients per year, expanding
specialty pharmacy services, and a leading stand-alone Medicare
Part D prescription drug plan, the company enables people,
businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable and
effective ways. This unique integrated model increases access to
quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall
health care costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is
shaping the future of health at https://www.cvshealth.com.
Media Contact:
Erin Shields
Britt
(401) 770-9237
Erin.Britt@CVSHealth.com
Mary Gattuso
(401) 770-9811
Mary.Gattuso@CVSHealth.com
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