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Canada and Mexico impose tariffs in response to Trump's trade policies, 55 victims identified including 3rd military pilot in fatal D.C. midair collision, and lawmakers in Montana, Nebraska and Wisconsin address gender laws, crypto regulations and violence prevention.

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President Trump imposes tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Legal experts question Trump's use of executive orders, and mass deportations may start to take a toll in the southwest.

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As bird flu spreads, egg prices continue to soar, wildfires aren't stopping Americans from moving to wildfire-prone states, and post-pandemic infrastructure isn't just roads and bridges but also education, healthcare and economic opportunity.

Union: CT Must Address Staffing at Addiction Treatment Centers

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Wednesday, February 2, 2022   

A Connecticut health-care workers' union is raising concerns over what it calls a "staffing crisis" in addiction services that led the state to close treatment admissions at two hospitals for the first time.

Members of SEIU District 1199 New England said the closures in late December at Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown and Blue Hills Treatment Center in Hartford, disconnected people from medically managed detoxification services, the highest level of addiction care.

Thomas Burr, community and affiliate relations manager for NAMI Connecticut, said that, combined with flat funding for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, people have been unable to get the help they need.

"The entire behavioral health system in Connecticut is gridlocked. And too many end up in crisis and wind up in overcrowded emergency rooms, waiting sometimes days for an inpatient bed to open - or worse, end up in a jail or in prison."

The union is asking DMHAS to fill 330 already funded positions at the two health facilities. A DMHAS spokesperson says admissions have resumed at the hospitals. The department has hired for nearly 700 positions since 2019, and continues to recruit for vacancies.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health reported a 14.3% increase in overdoses in 2020, with preliminary numbers for this year also increasing.

Brian Williams, a certified addictions counselor at Connecticut Valley, said it's concerning to see the reduced capacity for services during the pandemic, particularly for people who are incarcerated or on probation and need substance-use treatment.

"The human cost to these individuals and their families when treatment is delayed or denied is incalculable," he said. "While prolonged incarceration is severe enough, unfortunately, loss of life is also along this continuum."

Williams said capacity at Connecticut Valley's Middletown campus has been reduced from 110 beds to 30. The union also is calling on DMHAS to fill another 110 positions in addiction services. That would double treatment capacity by July, and cost the state an estimated $6.6 million.


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