Expanding Program Links ER Patients With Opioid Treatment

BUFFALO – An opioid treatment program developed at the University at Buffalo is expanding to other parts of New York state.

The Buffalo MATTERS program works out of hospital emergency rooms, with the goal of quickly connecting patients to drug treatment.

Now in use at more than a dozen hospitals in western New York, UB and state health officials announced Wednesday the program is spreading to the Albany area, mid-Hudson region and New York City.

The 4-year-old program gives emergency room patients medication for their symptoms, along with an electronic referral to enter long-term treatment within a day or two at a community clinic they choose.

UB says there is interest in the program well beyond New York.