From:
David T. Jones, Director
Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery
IDHS/SUPR Announces Provider Engagement Sessions
The Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery (IDHS/SUPR) is pleased to announce the first Provider Engagement Session designed to assist substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and harm reduction providers process experiences and challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is recognized that the pandemic has impacted the lives of everyone, we recognize that despite our best efforts, the opioid crisis has surged, leading to more overdoses and deaths. Concurrently, COVID-19 infections are increasing and bringing more public health restrictions to many service areas. It is our hope that these engagement sessions will encourage providers to participate in conversations to share creative strategies for work challenges and provide resources and best practice information that will help face barriers created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Provider Engagement sessions will be targeted by region and are designed to assist organizations with subsequent networking and to address factors that might be unique to that service area. The first session is targeted to Region 3 and includes East Central Illinois counties that were consistently experiencing high numbers of opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Illinois Helpline for Opioids and Other Substances will be hosting the first session which will be held on Wednesday, November 18th from 9:30-11:30am.
We hope that you will join your colleagues from Region 3 and help support each other in this disconcerting time.
Additional sessions will be scheduled for providers in other regions in the very near future.
