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The Wright Center for Community Health selected as one of 16 pilot sites for National Academy of Medicine’s substance use education and training project
The Wright Center for Community Health was selected by the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Combatting Substance Use and Opioid Crises as one of 16 sites across the nation to partner on a new project aimed at advancing education and training on substance use disorder treatment.
The sites will implement the Action Collaborative’s “3Cs Framework for Pain and Unhealthy Substance Use,” developed from the 2021 report “Educating Together, Improving Together,” which emphasizes the need for fundamental skills in pain management and substance use care to enhance training, coordination, and whole person-centered care among health professionals.
The 3Cs Framework — Core Knowledge, Collaboration, and Clinical Practice — addresses the full spectrum of medical, mental, behavioral, dental, and socioeconomic needs, paving the way for healthier, more supportive, and therapeutic communities.
The project will test how well the 3Cs Framework works in different education and practice settings. The 16 sites, representing 11 states and Washington, D.C., include health centers, hospitals, universities, addiction programs, and emergency services. Participants will create plans to implement the framework based on their specific needs, covering education for students and training for practicing professionals.
Scott Constantini, associate vice president of primary care and recovery services integration at The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education
“This critical public health initiative will enhance and strengthen the integration of our addiction medicine services for patients and families affected by substance use disorders,” said Scott Constantini, associate vice president of primary care and recovery services integration at The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education. “It will also support our ongoing development of a trauma-competent, recovery-oriented addiction medicine-informed primary health workforce, establishing milestone-based competencies and skill sets for our provider teams, trainees, and staff.”
The Wright Center was named by then Governor Tom Wolf as one of the first state-designated Opioid Use Disorder Centers of Excellence in 2016, significantly improving access to substance use disorder treatment. Since then, its services have expanded to encompass all types of substance use disorder care. All prescribers at the center are competent in medication-assisted treatment and have served over 2,400 patients with substance use disorders.
In 2018, The Wright Center led a consortium that launched the Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Support (Healthy MOMS) Program to assist pregnant women and new mothers with substance use disorder living in active recovery and to lower the incidence of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Participants are offered blanket services that include medication-assisted treatment and addiction services, counseling, primary care, referral to in-program OB-GYN care, and various other supports. The program serves nine counties in Northeast Pennsylvania and has supported more than 500 mothers and 287 babies.
The Action Collaborative’s project will conclude with a meeting in Washington, D.C., where representatives from all pilot sites and health education and policy leaders will share their findings to help identify ways to expand the use of the 3Cs Framework across the United States.
The other 15 sites are: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Rosemont, Illinois; Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York; DC Fire and EMS in Washington, D.C.; Drexel College of Medicine, Caring Together Program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; El Rio Community Health Center in Tucson, Arizona; Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida; Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland; The Ohio State University in Columbus; University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama; University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona; University Los Angeles Integrated Substance Use and Addiction Programs in Los Angeles, California; University of Florida, Office of Interprofessional Education in Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Orlando, Florida; University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine/Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee; and Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York, New York.
