Western Maryland Area Health Education Center

Healing Allegany: Pathway to Recovery is working to identify and fill gaps in opioid and addiction recovery services in Allegany County, Maryland. Located on the state’s panhandle in western Maryland, Allegany County has been an epicenter of the statewide opioid epidemic, with a drug overdose mortality rate of 43.8 deaths per 100,000 population, far above the state mortality rate of 29.2 and nearly double the national rate of 22.4. A consortium of seven local and state organizations, as well as numerous supportive partner agencies and individuals, Healing Allegany has reached out to the community through more than a half-dozen focus groups to obtain a ground-level view of the opioid crisis in Allegany County. Development of the related needs assessment has identified stigma as a major community issue and focus for Healing Allegany going forward, as it works to increase public awareness about the value of harm reduction initiatives such as syringe services programs to reduce the morbidity associated with opioid use disorder.