The Borough President's office released the draft of a borough-wide data strategy to combat the opioid epidemic. The preliminary report, entitled “Critical Measures for Tracking the Opioid Epidemic and Accelerating the Response on Staten Island,” reflects community input, research, and close collaboration with local experts, front-line workers, family members, clinicians, and individuals in recovery. The full draft can be found here.
Following the release of this draft, the second public comment period will be open through June 14, 2018. The Borough President’s Office is seeking input from Staten Islanders on the proposed measures and what can be done to move them in the right direction. Members of the public can comment here.
“The highlight of this endeavor has been the level of engagement and collaboration by our local partners who, notwithstanding the demanding day-to-day responsibilities on the front lines of this epidemic, have been informing our work and guiding us every step of the way,” said Borough President Oddo. “The way the borough’s treatment providers, first responders, government entities, hospitals and healthcare professionals, non-profits, and so many others have come together to serve a common cause during this challenging moment in our history pushes our office to do everything that we can to support them and their efforts to save lives. To that end, with the release of this draft report, we move closer to our goal of developing a borough-wide data strategy to align and thereby strengthen the collective response to this epidemic.”
In February, BP Oddo launched this initiative—in partnership with faculty at Johns Hopkins University and Northwell Health—to take a comprehensive look at the opioid crisis on Staten Island and develop a data strategy that would enable an accurate assessment of the progress made to date. The goal of the project is to identify a core set of measures to guide and align all of the invaluable work being done in the borough every day.
The road to this draft started with an open call for ideas, which generated nearly 100 submissions from Staten Island residents suggesting the measures that they believed were essential to tracking progress and planning efforts to address the opioid crisis. Then the office turned to the borough’s local experts—NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, District Attorney Michael McMahon’s Office, the New York City Police Department, the Staten Island Performing Provider System, Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital, Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness, and many more in a long list of key partners—to learn from their work and experience on Staten Island.
To synthesize local input and a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence, the office assembled an Opioid Data Working Group of nationally renowned experts on data strategies and best practices to address opioid-related harms. The Opioid Data Working Group featured:
• Anthony C. Ferreri, DBA (Chair). Dr. Ferreri is the former CEO of Staten Island University Hospital and is now Senior Advisor to the Borough President.
• Chinazo O. Cunningham, M.D., M.S. Dr. Cunningham is Professor and Associate Chief of General Internal Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
• Marc N. Gourevitch, MD, MPH. Dr. Gourevitch is Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health at the NYU School of Medicine.
• Jonathan Morgenstern, PhD. Dr. Morgenstern is Assistant Vice President for Addiction Services at Northwell Health and Professor of Psychiatry at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine.
• Nora Santiago, M.S. Ms. Santiago is Urban Policy Analyst and GIS Specialist at CUNY College of Staten Island.
“Staten Island is using data strategically in the fight against the opioid epidemic,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. “If critical efforts can come together across the Borough to move these measures, many lives will be saved.”
Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health, said, “Northwell Health and Staten Island University Hospital are prepared to step in and do what we can to assist the borough president in combatting this public health crisis, which has already destroyed countless lives on Staten Island. Working collaboratively with law enforcement, government and community leaders, Northwell and its substance abuse treatment providers can bring clinical and research resources that can help turn the tide of this epidemic.”
District Attorney Michael McMahon said, “Make no mistake, the drug epidemic on Staten Island still rages across our borough. This crisis knows no bounds, and has taken a heavy toll on people of all ages, races, and socio-economic backgrounds; we see it firsthand every day. Bringing together our treatment, government, first responder and law enforcement communities will better align our efforts, ensuring we complement each other’s work and aim at the same target: ending the horrific scourge of addiction and overdose on Staten Island. Thank you to Borough President Oddo for spearheading this effort, and I look forward to the development of this important initiative”
Following this final public comment period, a final report will be released in June.
Following the release of this draft, the second public comment period will be open through June 14, 2018. The Borough President’s Office is seeking input from Staten Islanders on the proposed measures and what can be done to move them in the right direction. Members of the public can comment here.
“The highlight of this endeavor has been the level of engagement and collaboration by our local partners who, notwithstanding the demanding day-to-day responsibilities on the front lines of this epidemic, have been informing our work and guiding us every step of the way,” said Borough President Oddo. “The way the borough’s treatment providers, first responders, government entities, hospitals and healthcare professionals, non-profits, and so many others have come together to serve a common cause during this challenging moment in our history pushes our office to do everything that we can to support them and their efforts to save lives. To that end, with the release of this draft report, we move closer to our goal of developing a borough-wide data strategy to align and thereby strengthen the collective response to this epidemic.”
In February, BP Oddo launched this initiative—in partnership with faculty at Johns Hopkins University and Northwell Health—to take a comprehensive look at the opioid crisis on Staten Island and develop a data strategy that would enable an accurate assessment of the progress made to date. The goal of the project is to identify a core set of measures to guide and align all of the invaluable work being done in the borough every day.
The road to this draft started with an open call for ideas, which generated nearly 100 submissions from Staten Island residents suggesting the measures that they believed were essential to tracking progress and planning efforts to address the opioid crisis. Then the office turned to the borough’s local experts—NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, District Attorney Michael McMahon’s Office, the New York City Police Department, the Staten Island Performing Provider System, Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital, Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness, and many more in a long list of key partners—to learn from their work and experience on Staten Island.
To synthesize local input and a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence, the office assembled an Opioid Data Working Group of nationally renowned experts on data strategies and best practices to address opioid-related harms. The Opioid Data Working Group featured:
• Anthony C. Ferreri, DBA (Chair). Dr. Ferreri is the former CEO of Staten Island University Hospital and is now Senior Advisor to the Borough President.
• Chinazo O. Cunningham, M.D., M.S. Dr. Cunningham is Professor and Associate Chief of General Internal Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
• Marc N. Gourevitch, MD, MPH. Dr. Gourevitch is Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health at the NYU School of Medicine.
• Jonathan Morgenstern, PhD. Dr. Morgenstern is Assistant Vice President for Addiction Services at Northwell Health and Professor of Psychiatry at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine.
• Nora Santiago, M.S. Ms. Santiago is Urban Policy Analyst and GIS Specialist at CUNY College of Staten Island.
“Staten Island is using data strategically in the fight against the opioid epidemic,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. “If critical efforts can come together across the Borough to move these measures, many lives will be saved.”
Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health, said, “Northwell Health and Staten Island University Hospital are prepared to step in and do what we can to assist the borough president in combatting this public health crisis, which has already destroyed countless lives on Staten Island. Working collaboratively with law enforcement, government and community leaders, Northwell and its substance abuse treatment providers can bring clinical and research resources that can help turn the tide of this epidemic.”
District Attorney Michael McMahon said, “Make no mistake, the drug epidemic on Staten Island still rages across our borough. This crisis knows no bounds, and has taken a heavy toll on people of all ages, races, and socio-economic backgrounds; we see it firsthand every day. Bringing together our treatment, government, first responder and law enforcement communities will better align our efforts, ensuring we complement each other’s work and aim at the same target: ending the horrific scourge of addiction and overdose on Staten Island. Thank you to Borough President Oddo for spearheading this effort, and I look forward to the development of this important initiative”
Following this final public comment period, a final report will be released in June.
