1000 San Leandro Blvd., Suite 300

San Leandro, CA 94577

Ph (510) 618-3452

Fax (510) 351-1367

Alameda County Safety Net Working Group on Opioid Prescribing

Alameda County Health and our partners California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) and the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association launched a collaborative, multidisciplinary initiative aimed at improving care of chronic pain in Alameda County' safety net while decreasing misuse of prescription opioid pain relievers.

In 2016, we are refocusing the work started in 2015 with CHCF funding to create three working groups: Community, Clinical, and Data. We welcome new participants to these groups. If you are interested in joining, please email Stacee Brackens for more information.

2016 Initiative Activities

Safe Prescribing Tools

Presentations, Resources, and Articles

Partners

Opioid Overdose Facts

  • Prescription opioid painkiller misuse and abuse is a public health issue with long-term health consequences, including limitations in daily activity, impaired driving, mental health problems, trouble breathing, overdose, and death.
  • In 2011, over 1.4 million drug-related emergency department visits in this country were attributed to misuse or abuse of prescription drugs, exceeding the 1.25 million visits involving illicit drugs.
  • In Alameda County, deaths from opioid misuse tripled between 2005 and 2014. Hospitalization for opioid-related, non-fatal overdoses increased by over 74%.
  • In the last five years, Alameda County's Emergency Medical Services Division treated over 4,436 patients with naloxone to reverse the effects of drug overdoses.
  • Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services has worked to expand the availability of buprenorphine, a safer treatment alternative for those who are physically dependent on opiates.

Contact:

Kathleen A. Clanon, MD
Medical Director
Health Care System Planning & Improvement
Alameda County Health
E-mail Dr. Clanon