Press Releases
Pascrell, Booker, Menendez Visit St. Joseph’s Medical Center to Tout Non-Opioid Alternatives Legislation
Paterson, NJ,
April 23, 2018
Tags:
Health Care
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), and Sens. Cory A. Booker (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) spoke at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson to highlight their legislation that seeks to boost hospitals’ resources to curb the national opioid epidemic. The bicameral, bipartisan legislation is modeled on a program begun in Paterson. After years of ravaging communities across America, the opioid epidemic is showing no signs of abating. More than 100 people die each day from opioid overdose, with forty percent of those deaths involving a prescription opioid. Over 200 million opioid prescriptions are written in the United States each year. As a first line of defense against the opioid epidemic, emergency rooms are well positioned to be laboratories of new innovations to combat the crisis. At the same time, because of the short-term nature of care they provide, emergency rooms are often highly susceptible to doctor-shopping. A recent report issued the Centers for Disease Control found that emergency room visits stemming from opioid overdoses rose approximately 30 percent between July 2016 and September 2017. The report noted that abuse is affecting all age groups and in all geographic regions in the nation, with the acting head of the CDC saying the epidemic is getting ‘worse.’ Eager to try fresh approaches to address the epidemic, St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson created the Alternatives to Opiates (ALTO) program, which decreased emergency department opioid prescriptions by more than 80 percent in two years. The Colorado Hospital Association saw similar success with its program, decreasing opioid usage by 36 percent across ten hospital emergency departments in six months. The Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) in the Emergency Department Act would establish a demonstration program to test alternative pain management protocols to limit the use of opioids in emergency departments. The legislation would provide grant funding to build these programs. Following the completion of the three-year demonstration, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will submit a report to Congress on the results of the program and issue recommendations for broader implementation. “Our legislation has garnered strong bipartisan support on both sides of the Capitol because of the clear positive results St. Joe’s has achieved here in North Jersey. The opioid crisis impacts communities in every corner of America. The team at St. Joseph’s in Paterson have built one of the few preventative, evidence-based, and successful models out there. Once replicated and expanded, it could be a watershed in the fight against the opioid epidemic,” said Rep. Pascrell. “I want to thank Kevin Slavin and Dr. Mark Rosenberg and his team for welcoming us to shed a light on the frontline work of emergency departments.” “The opioid crisis in our country is staggering and epic in its evil. As a result, we are seeing the life expectancy in our country go down and families and communities destroyed,” said Sen. Booker. “Right here in New Jersey, we know that the opioid epidemic does not discriminate against Democrats or Republicans, or suburban or urban areas. The work being done here at St. Joseph’s Medical Center is innovative, it is inspiring, and it is shining light against the darkness.” “The ALTO program here at St. Joe’s is at the forefront of innovative thinking and new approaches to treating pain—to fighting opioid addiction,” said Sen. Menendez. “This creative thinking and willingness to approach health care delivery in new ways is critical to moving our health care system forward, tackling the scourge of addiction, and saving lives. We want to see every hospital and provider across New Jersey and across this nation follow St. Joe’s lead, and our bill provides the necessary federal resources to help make it possible.” “Thousands of New Jersey patients and families have benefited from our Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO®) program since it launched in January 2016,” said Kevin Slavin, the President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health. “St. Joseph’s is proud to lead the way in providing a tangible solution to address the opioid epidemic here in New Jersey – and now across the country with this proposed legislation.” “We launched ALTO two years ago to offer a real solution to a rapidly growing opioid epidemic,” said Mark Rosenberg, DO, Chairman of Emergency Medicine and Chief Innovation Officer, St. Joseph’s Health. “Since then, we have witnessed tremendous success using the ALTO protocols. I’m very proud to report that we have reduced opioid prescriptions by 82 percent here in the St. Joseph’s Emergency Department. We are stopping addiction before it starts.” The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is scheduled to soon approve Congressman Pascrell’s Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) in the Emergency Department Act (H.R. 5197), which is co-sponsored by Reps. David McKinley (R-WV), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Scott R. Tipton (R-CO), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Andy Barr (R-KY). Its companion bill in the Senate (S. 2516) is sponsored by Sens. Booker, Menendez, Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), and Cory Gardner (R-CO). The Senate legislation is slated to be considered this week in the Senate Committee on Help, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) in the Emergency Department Act is endorsed by the American College of Emergency Physicians, St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, America’s Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, the New Jersey Hospital Association, and the Colorado Hospital Association. |