July 11, 2023

On Saturday, we sent you an article from the Buffalo News that included opinions from two Opioid Advisory Board members regarding the work of the Board, OASAS’ performance in pushing out the RFPs and interpreting the recommendations of the Board, and related concerns.

Yesterday, the OAB met in Albany for their quarterly meeting.  While there was no mention of the Buffalo News article, there was a discussion in which the urgency and frustration some board members are feeling with the process and its early outcomes, was shared with fellow Board members, OASAS and OMH leads, etc. 

A link to the recording of the meeting as well as some of the materials distributed to members of the Opioid Advisory Board (they are being added over time) is here:  https://totalwebcasting.com/view/?func=VOFF&id=nysoasas&date=2023-07-10&seq=1

Note:  I want to call to your attention to a fantastic presentation discussing important work being done by a group of 7 mid-Hudson counties and community stakeholders from those counties, that addresses the need for evidence-based care to treat co-occurring disorders (mental health and substance use disorder).  You can view the presentation at the 42 minute mark on the recording (linked above).  This is a presentation that is well worth your time.