2 institutions receiving $800K in opioid grants

A pair of local health care organizations are set to receive a combined $800,000 in opioid grants from the federal government.

The recipients of funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration were announced in a news release this morning.

Citizens Memorial Hospital, of Bolivar, and Kirksville-based Preferred Family Healthcare Inc., which has a primary operations center in Springfield, are the local grant recipients. PFH also operates a joint venture in partnership with Burrell Behavioral Health called Brightli.

Out of the $2.8 million in federal funds going to Missouri organizations, CMH was chosen to receive a neonatal abstinence syndrome award of $500,000. PFH was picked for $300,000 in funding for a program that focuses on overdose response.

“Far too many rural families have faced the devastation of overdose, and these deaths are felt deeply across rural communities — where often everyone knows someone lost too soon,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson said in the release. “At the Health Resources and Services Administration, we know that funding based on population size or other broad-based rubrics can miss the vital treatment and response needs of rural communities. That’s why the investments we are announcing today are targeted to rural communities and tailored to the unique challenges of helping rural health care leaders expand access to treatment and build recovery pathways to prevent overdose.”