In the Hudson Valley, opioid deaths have surged

In keeping with the national rise. Very terrible.

The problem now is not a shortage of treatment beds, said Darcie Miller, Orange County's commissioner of mental health and social services. Statewide, only 59% of treatment beds are being used, and Orange County's treatment providers have committed to an open-door policy for addicts who need immediate service, she said. "The problem is getting people in the door," Miller said.

After a promising decline a year earlier in parts of the Hudson Valley, opioid overdose deaths spiked sharply again in the region during the pandemic, mirroring a grim national trend. In Orange County, which had an 18% decrease in fatalities in 2019, the toll jumped by 25% to 121 in 2020. Opioid deaths in neighboring Ulster County had fallen by 38% in 2019 but surged by 83% in 2020, to 64.

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The same is true for most of the country. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that fatal overdoses soared to a record high of 93,000 across the U.S. last year, a 29% increase over the previous year. Deaths had risen since 2019 in every state except two.