Letter to the editor: ARP funds should go to treat substance abuse, mental illness

I am a Westmoreland County physician who has worked throughout the pandemic and witnessed the damage from covid-19 firsthand. Many patients and families are still struggling with depression, addiction or both. Hopefully, our county commissioners will use Westmoreland County’s American Rescue Plan funds to rescue our communities as we recover from the effects of covid-19. We need funding for critical programs to treat substance use disorders and mental illness.

The CDC reported a record-high 93,331 U.S. overdose deaths in 2020 (over 20,000 more deaths than the previous high in 2019). Westmoreland County suffered 168 overdose deaths in 2021, a 37% increase from 2020. Currently, we have no dual- diagnosis unit (treatment for both mental health diagnoses and addiction). We need a transitional program such as the Pathways Program, which allows patients time for additional stabilization following inpatient behavioral health admissions. We have a shortage of mental health and addiction medicine providers.

Patients with mental health and substance use disorders are not “other people, from somewhere else.” These are our brothers, sisters, moms, dads, sons and daughters, right here in our community, right now. Let’s fund mental health and substance abuse programs. Our recovering community members deserve a brighter post-covid-19 future.

Dr. Marti Haykin

Unity