05/01/18  Portland, Ore.

OHSU Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Addiction Medicine received a $360,000 grant from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to expand the outreach and educational components of Project Nurture. Project Nurture integrates substance use disorder treatment with primary care (including pain management), prenatal care, intrapartum care, postpartum care and well-baby care that women with substance use disorders need while pregnant and in the first year of the child's life.

With funding from HealthShare, Project Nurture has already been able to transform the way women are cared for in clinics and in the hospital. For example, OHSU's Project Nurture team has directed efforts to re-write OHSU's inpatient neonatal opioid withdrawal protocol. Now, the process is much more effective and patient-centered, with less intervention.

With the new grant from the DOJ, the OHSU's Project Nurture team will further develop educational programs for physicians in training and regional outreach and educational activities for the medical community in Oregon. Specifically, the team will be able to fund four fellows (post-doctoral students) as well as additional education and outreach for two years.

To learn more about the DOJ's grants and how they will be used to combat Oregon's opioid epidemic, read here.