U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell will be in Lewis County on Thursday for a roundtable discussion and tour of the Cascade Community Healthcare clinics in Chehalis and Centralia.
The visit comes months after the senator helped secure a $928,700 grant through the Department of Health and Human Services Rural Communities Opioid Response Program’s Medication Assisted Treatment Access Program to expand Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) services.
MAT reduces a patient’s craving for a substance and withdrawal symptoms through medication while they receive substance use disorder (SUD) behavioral therapy services, which can create a holistic approach.
During the visit, Cantwell is set to meet with Cascade Community Health CEO Richard Stride and Lewis County Jail Chief Chris Sweet.
The grant, announced in September, helped expand MAT access points into Morton and Packwood four days a week and helped fund services offered in the Lewis County Jail. The MAT clinics in Morton and Packwood operate through a partnership with Arbor Health.
Opened in February, Director of Substance Use Disorder Erika Marshall told The Chronicle that the Packwood facility can support 15 to 20 people a day through MAT services and an additional four to six people through SUD.
In addition to an update on the federal grant, the roundtable discussion will focus on Cascade’s current services and needs.
When announcing the grant funds, Sen. Maria Cantwell said that at “every stop on my statewide fentanyl listening tour, I’ve heard that we must make it easier for people to find treatment if we’re going to end this crisis.”
“That means giving rural hospitals the resources to offer the most effective substance use treatments,” Cantwell said in a September 2023 statement.
