PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Attorney General Maura Healey, middle, makes a point to Lori Abrams Berry, executive director of Lynn’s Community Health Center, and chief medical officer Dr. Kiame Mahaniah.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — State Attorney General Maura Healey praised Lynn Community Health Center workers Thursday for fighting the war against opiate abuse “on the front lines” and pledged to help provide added financial assistance to the Union Street facility.
Healey met with Center Director Lori Abrams Berry and Berry’s colleagues Thursday afternoon to discuss the Center’s treatment programs and the magnitude of the local opiate addiction problem.
“It’s huge. We see many patients struggling or their families,” said Berry.
Berry said the Center treats about 300 opiate-addicted individuals with a mix of medication and programs. Some patients receive Suboxone, a drug Center chief medical officer Kiame Mahaniah said is designed to inhibit opiate cravings. Another drug, Vivitrol, is also administered in medical settings to Center patients to block the effects of opiate drugs.
“We provide a huge amount of treatment,” said Mahaniah.
Healey said community health centers play an important role in ending opiate addiction, partly by combining medication treatment with other services.
“This is an institution that does so much for the community. We know the opiate crisis has hit Lynn hard,” she said.
Berry said Center physicians and nurse practitioners are trained in “chronic opiate therapy guidelines” intended to limit and carefully control opiate prescriptions. Medical personnel throughout the Center work together to treat addicts.
“One thing that makes us different is our team’s way of providing care — mental health, primary care, psychiatric services — it’s totally integrated,” Berry said.
She praised Healey’s interest in visiting the Center and pointed out the relationship previously established between the AG’s office and the Center. A two-year $215,000 grant provided by the AG’s office helps pay for behavioral health therapy in Brickett, Tracy and Ford schools.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].
