MHSD in the News

More people died of drug overdoses in New Orleans than those who were killed in homicide in 2016, and the majority of the deaths were from opioids.

A $3 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has been awarded to the Metropolitan Human Services District, working in Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, in response to the growing opioid epidemic.

Read the full article on WDSU Channel 6 – http://www.wdsu.com/article/local-agency-awarded-dollar3-million-grant-to-tackle-growing-opioid-epidemic/9253358

As deaths from opioid drugs outpace homicides in New Orleans, a local agency is in a position to assist more people struggling with addiction.

“This is not something that is just going to go away on a wish or a whim, it requires aggressive interventions by people who understand the disease of addiction and who are capable of working with that very difficult population,” said Dr. Rochelle Head-Dunham, executive director and medical director of the Metropolitan Human Services District.

Read the entire article on FOX 8 – http://www.fox8live.com/story/35018000/local-agency-gets-3-million-grant-to-reduce-opioid-deaths

“Without expansion we don’t have the availability to provide the services to that new population because we don’t have the dollars to do it,” said Dr. Rochelle Head-Dunham, executive director of the tri-parish Metropolitan Human Services District that serves Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. The agency provides among other things, behavioral health services.

Gov. John Bel Edwards urged congressional leaders in a letter Tuesday to protect Medicaid expansion, which benefits more than 400,000 people in Louisiana alone.

Meanwhile, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise told FOX 8 News he disagrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment that millions will automatically lose health coverage afforded through former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

Read the entire article on FOX 8 – http://www.fox8live.com/story/34848019/gov-edwards-urges-congress-to-protect-medicaid-expansion-whip-scalise-rejects-cbo-assessment