FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrea Garcia, Associate Vice President, University Advancement
(707) 638-5272, andrea.garcia@tu.edu
Vallejo, CA (February 21, 2020): The Center at Sierra Health Foundation has awarded a $175,837 grant to Touro University California (TUC) as a fiscal sponsor for Drug Safe Solano Opioid Coalition (DSS). The funding comes as part of $9.93 million being awarded to the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Access Points cohort, which is comprised of 55 community-based organizations throughout California that work to strengthen prevention, education, and stigma reduction efforts for people with opioid use disorder (OUD) and substance use disorder (SUD), particularly in communities of color.
“Drug Safe Solano and Touro will be working closely with La Clinica and other partners to empower these communities to respond to the challenges of opiate epidemic,” said Drug Safe Solano Coordinator Nancy Calvo.
The goals of the grant are to increase access to MAT services in Vallejo’s diverse community, which will include community-based patient education trainings on OUD and MAT as well as the hiring of a patient navigator. The funding will also help create a local cross-systems map to identify opportunities for systems level interventions and provide training for first responders in Vallejo on OUD and MAT.
“Ever since we partnered with Drug Safe Solano in September 2019, we have been proud to serve on the front lines of the opioid epidemic by training providers to deliver medication assisted therapy and also training community members to deliver life-saving Narcan,” said Provost and CAO of TUC, Dr. Sarah Sweitzer. “This thoroughly adheres to TUC’s mission of service, leadership, and teaching. Education in partnership with our community is an integral part of our identity.”
In a press release, Chet P. Hewitt, president and CEO of The Center at Sierra Health Foundation said, “The intention of this prevention and education project is whole person – and whole community – care. The selected organizations have established relationships with their community members built on trust, cultural understanding, and a commitment to integrate wraparound services at a neighborhood level – these attributes provide a powerful foundation to strengthen and grow local efforts to tackle opioid use disorder.”
About the Touro College and University System: Touro University California is a Jewish nonprofit, independent graduate institution of higher learning founded in 1997 on three Judaic values: social justice, the pursuit of knowledge and service to humanity. The University, home to 1,400 students, has professional programs in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physician assistant studies, public health, nursing, and education. Faculty, staff and students have a powerful commitment to academic excellence, evidence-based professional practice, inter-professional collaboration, and active engagement with a global community. To learn more, visit www.tu.edu or call 707-638-5200.
