New Central Utah crisis center will be “life-changing” for those struggling with opioids

Jun 24, 2024, 10:00 AM

USU Extension received a $350,000 grant to help Duchesne, Uintah, and Daggett Counties fight opioid...

FILE - A number of 5-mg pills of Oxycodone are displayed on June 17, 2019. Data released Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, shows that the number of prescription pills shipped in the U.S. continued to decline through the end of the 2010s, even as the overdose crisis deepened due to illicit opioids. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

BY BRITT JOHNSON

Anchor/Reporter

CENTRAL UTAH — An area of Utah struggling with opioid overdose deaths is getting help as a new crisis center opens in Central Utah.

Central Utah is no stranger to drug problems. Both Carbon County and Emery County have become “hot spots” for opioid overdose deaths, according to Melissa Huntington, the executive director of Four Corners Community Behavioral Health.

She said the new crisis center is a huge step in the right direction.

“Having one close by, a secured unit that has medical staff 24 hours a day, is invaluable in this area,” Huntington said.

She said the new life-changing crisis center will open on Tuesday.

For the rural area of Utah, the center is the first of its kind. It will give access to therapy, medical care, and a place for people to stabilize during a crisis. The new crisis center will bring care to people who used to travel hours to receive it.

Huntington hopes this is what the community needs to bring its overdose numbers down.

Britt Johnson is a reporter and anchor for KSL NewsRadio.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Send it to the KSL NewsRadio team here.

Health

In this photo provided by Massachusetts General Hospital, patient Mike Garrity, center, speaks with...

LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer

Keeping blood pressure under control is critical. There’s a new option for tough cases

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nothing doctors prescribed controlled Michael Garrity’s dangerously high blood pressure — until they zapped away some nerves on his kidneys. If that sounds weird, well, kidneys help regulate blood pressure in part through signals from certain nerves. The new treatment disrupts overactive renal nerves. “My blood pressure would spike and I’d run […]

3 days ago