Opioid overdoses dropped dramatically for addicts in an experimental drug treatment program on Staten Island, fueling hope it could ultimately save thousands and help curb a fentanyl epidemic ravaging New York and the nation.

Two overdose fatalities of addicts participating in the Hotspotting The Overdose Epidemic program, which began in March 2022, were reported compared with 11 who did not, according to a new analysis.

In addition, non-fatal overdoses were 81% lower than for non-participants.

The analysis also showed a big drop in hospital emergency room visits and in-patient admissions for addicts in the program — 56% and 43% respectively — higher than for those not in the program..

Program participants were chosen using an analytics tool that Northwell Health’s Staten Island Performing Provider System developed with MIT to identify those at the highest risk of overdosing.

The 667 addicts who agreed to sign up were then assigned to certified peer advocates  — recovering addicts — and a substance abuse counselor in outpatient clinics, and were put on a medication program to wean them off fentanyl and other opioids.

“If we can do this on a large scale, we can save thousands of lives,” said Joseph Conte, executive director of Northwell Health’s Performing Provider System.

Conte said the ex-addicts in the program have credibility with patients because they feel “a peer advocate walked miles in their shoes” — and give patients a powerful example that it’s possible to kick the opioid habit.

Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon, who maintains a log of all overdose incidents in the borough used for the treatment program, hailed the results.

“The Hotspotting Program is a common-sense, life-saving approach to saving those
at serious risk of a fatal overdose, and we are thrilled that the hard work of our Alternatives to
Incarceration Unit and the [Performing Provider System] team have paid such immense and immediate dividends in our quest to prevent overdoses in our communities,” he said.

Overdose deaths have reached record levels in New York City. In 2021, for example, the city reported a 78% increase in overdose deaths compared with 2019. Fentanyl — a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and often mixed with other stimulants and drugs — was detected in an alarming 80% of the deadly overdoses.

“This is extraordinarily important in that the poisoned drug supply has even further been tainted and made more lethal by Xylazine, commonly called `Tranq’ among people who use drugs and other substances,” the analysis conducted by Staten Island University/Northwell Health stated. 

A one-year-old tot recently died from fentanyl exposure at a Bronx child care center fronting for an opioid den.

Dr. Brahim Ardolic, executive director of Staten Island University Hospital/Northwell said “nearly 7,000 New Yorkers died from overdose in the past 12 months, over 150 from Staten Island alone” and that “we need innovative programs to reverse this tragic trend.”

The $5 billion Hotspotting program is backed by foundation funding, including a $3 million grant from the The Secure Future Project as well as $1.5 million from Northwell Health.

The patients were treated at Staten Island’s outpatient hospital clinics but Conte acknowledged in some cases, residential treatment may still be the best option for long-term addicts..

Former congressman Max Rose, a consultant for The Secure Future Project, said the findings are a game changer.

“These results are out of this world. The Hotspotting program demonstrates that if we can get the funding to replicate it across the city and country we can literally save thousands of lives,” Rose said.

Of the 667 addicts in the Hotspotting Program, 369 had inpatient visits in 2021 or 2022 at one of the two major hospitals on Staten Island, Richmond University Medical Center or Staten Island University Hospital.

Results show the average number of emergency visits per patient before enrollment was 1.93 visits compared with 1.4 visits after enrollment.

Of the 737 individuals who weren’t part of the Hotspotting Program, 418 had inpatient visits in 2021 or 2022 at one of the major hospitals on Staten Island. 

Outreach for the second phase of the program started at the end of May, and is aiming for 626 participants by December.