ACAAM Supports Introduction of Opioid Workforce Act of 2021

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Contact: Dawn Levreau
Director of Operations
[email protected]

Attributable to ACAAM President, Martha Wunsch, MD FAAP DFSAM:

“The American College of Academic Addiction Medicine (ACAAM) applauds the efforts of Senators Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) in introducing the Opioid Workforce Act of 2021. This bipartisan legislation will expand the physician workforce by providing support for 1,000 new graduate medical education training positions over five years in hospitals that have—or are in the process of establishing—accredited residency programs in addiction medicine, addiction psychiatry, or pain medicine.

These residency/fellowship programs and the new training positions will create opportunities for more people suffering the debilitating effects of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) to receive effective, evidence-based treatment from highly trained physicians.

We encourage additional Senators from both sides of the aisle to sign on as cosponsors of this important piece of legislation that will make a needed impact on the effective treatment of their constituents dealing with SUD and OUD.”