The University of Vermont will receive a new federal grant to start the UVM Center on Rural Addiction.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped the federal Department of Health and Human Services secure funds to address the opioid crisis in rural areas. This week, Vermont was selected as one of three states to get the money.
"It's designed to have three states try it and see how it works in rural areas,鈥� Leahy said. 鈥淰ermont 鈥� it wasn't just because I wrote the legislation. Vermont very clearly stood out."
The other states are New York and Georgia.
The $6.6 million will help establish an infrastructure for UVM to develop and test methods for addressing opioid addiction in rural areas, said Stephen Leffler, the interim president of UVM Medical Center.
鈥淎 big component of this grant is, it links together our providers with researchers, with other components of the community, to provide not only new, novel ways to treat people with chronic pain and addiction, but also community partnerships to wrap support around them,鈥� Leffler said.
The new center will also serve New Hampshire and Maine.
