University of Chicago

Chicago had the highest number of heroin-related emergency-room visits in the country. The low-income, predominantly African American communities on Chicago’s West and South Sides experience the greatest burden of both the rising rates of opioid use and the decline in treatment capacity. There is an urgent need to increase the number of health care providers in these communities that are trained in evidence based treatment options for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD). Funding from TCI will support workforce development for community-based primary care providers through ECHO-Chicago’s OUD series to expand primary care capacity and increase access to OUD treatment in underserved communities.