02/29/2016

Wentworth-Douglass Partners with Dover Police to Focus on Opioid Abuse

The Board of Trustees at Wentworth-Douglass unanimously approved a $125,000 grant earlier this month to the City of Dover Police Department to offer ongoing support for the organization’s Community Outreach Bureau with specific emphasis on awareness and prevention of opioid abuse. 

The Dover Youth to Youth (Y2Y) Program and the Dover Coalition for Youth will utilize the grant funding to continue working to improve the quality of life in Dover for youth and families by preventing the harm caused by substance abuse. Funding will support the creation of public service announcements to increase awareness of the current heroin and opioid epidemic – including expansion of the “If I’d Known” campaign highlighting people in recovery from heroin addiction; training for local employers to recognize the signs of substance abuse and how to help; the exploration of drug treatment models to support recovery at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital; the development of many school and community projects to both raise awareness about the substance abuse problem and provide an organized method for community resources and partners to collectively develop solutions.

“Education, awareness, treatment, and ultimately prevention are where we need to focus our efforts in this crisis our community is facing. The efforts of the Dover Police Department and their strong youth programming are making an impact,” said Gregory Walker, President & CEO of Wentworth-Douglass Health System. “We are happy to help them sustain efforts around awareness and to also develop ideas and initiatives focused on prevention.”

“The Dover Police Department is grateful for the ongoing partnership with Wentworth-Douglass Hospital,” said Chief Colarusso. “Dover has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic and this support will allow the police department to sustain our current prevention programs and develop important new initiatives to address substance abuse in our community.”

For more information about program activities or how you can help, please contact Vicki Hebert at v.hebert@dover.nh.gov or by calling (603) 516-3279.

About the Dover Police Department Community Outreach Bureau
The Dover Police Department supports a comprehensive community policing plan and strategy. The foundation of this approach is the premise that the police department cannot single handedly fix all of the community’s safety and security concerns. This approach is based on the philosophy that the police department will be more effective if it acts as a catalyst to bring together various community groups and works with them to find solutions to crime, substance abuse and other community issues. To further this strategy, the Dover Police Department has an active Community Outreach Bureau which consists of a variety of programs such as Dover Youth to Youth and Dover Coalition for Youth. While the primary focus of the Community Outreach Bureau is substance abuse prevention, the bureau also works to provide access to treatment and recovery for those struggling with addiction.

Wentworth-Douglass Health System (wdhospital.org) is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit charitable health care organization located in the Seacoast community of Dover, New Hampshire with a 110-year history of compassionate care and innovation. Serving its communities since 1906, it is a family of 250 providers and over 2,300 employees and volunteers dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of residents and visitors to the Seacoast area of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Wentworth-Douglass Health System is comprised of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (a 178-bed hospital) Wentworth Health Partners (27 primary care and specialty care provider practices); The Wentworth-Douglass Foundation and The Works, a full service health and fitness center.