Apr 13, 2019 2 min read

Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone and Gov. Tom Wolf participated in the non-partisan National Governors Association Opioid Summit in Washington, D.C., this week.

Wolf discussed Medicaid expansion, which means that 125,000 Pennsylvania Medicaid recipients are receiving treatment for substance use disorder; 45 Centers of Excellence, such as the SPHS Care Center, so people can receive care in their own communities; and the award of housing grants, including one to Connect Inc., in Washington and Greene counties, to help individuals overcome barriers to treatment and recovery.

Vittone highlighted the work of Washington County’s opioid overdose coalition, diversion programs and the Vivitrol Plus program for inmates being released from jail.

“Washington County was one of the areas heavily hit by the opioid epidemic,” Vittone said.

“Our overdose rate and death rate were among the highest in the nation. While we haven’t completely eliminated the effect of this epidemic, we have made progress, largely due to the work of the many partners in our opioid overdose coalition,” Vittone said.

Vivitrol Plus combines medicine and treatment. Vivitrol is the trade name for naltrexone, an opioid antagonist that removes the “high” experienced from ingesting opioids.

“We now have over a year’s worth of experience and information on that program and the number of people re-offending or relapsing is quite low compared to other programs,” Vittone said.

“By reducing re-offending, we are providing a more cost-effective way to address addicts committing crimes while holding them accountable. We will continue to emphasize prevention and education, treatment of nonviolent offenders and prosecution of dealers in our work.”

Vittone said also showing great promise is a drug diversion program at the magisterial level for minor drug offenses.