Credit: WDVM, Katie Rhee

Congressman David Trone alongside Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen announced that the Western Maryland Area Health Education Center will receive $1 million dollars in funding to aid their mission to combat the opioid crisis in the region.

The Western Maryland Area Health Education Center serves Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett counties, and portions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia and works to improve access and quality of care.

Congressman Trone also highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the opioid crisis, leaving millions of Americans and thousands of Maryland residents at risk.

“Right now, we need to be getting resources in the hands of states to confront this crisis and help the communities that are most impacted by this disease. This funding for the Western Maryland Area Health Education Center will help the organization tailor their prevention and treatment methods to the communities they serve.” Congressman Trone

The funding was made available from a $101 million grant to help states address substance use and opioid use disorders in high-risk communities.

Trone is also the founder of the Freshmen Working Group on Addiction which is a bipartisan task force working to end the addiction crisis in America. It has a total of 63 members from 31 states and was established to further investigate and ultimately end one of the most devastating crises that the United States is facing.