The University of New England was granted $1.6 million in federal funds to train students and health professionals to treat opioid use disorder.
The grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration will launch a new two-track certification program by August 2026. University officials say those certified will know how to recognize opioid disorders, treat them with medication and address stigma around addiction.
The initiative, called the Northern Border Rural Workforce, is designed to meet behavioral health needs in rural areas of Maine where the impact of the opioid crisis is especially acute.
The university is partnered with over two dozen rural hospitals and treatment centers owned by Maine health systems like Penobscot Community Health Care, Northern Light Health and AMHC.
"It incentivizes students to go to those rural areas and actually practice the rotations there," said Devon Sherwood, project director and associate professor in UNE School of Pharmacy. "We know that every time you get [a student] out to that site, it's a potential employment opportunity when they graduate."
While the training program will be incorporated into UNE’s graduate health programs in pharmacy, psychiatric nurse practitioner, social work, physician assistant and medicine, and the school’s undergraduate nursing and social work, it will also offer online courses for working health professionals.
Sherwood said the program addresses a "critical gap in Maine’s behavioral health system" by building a pipeline of professionals trained to address and treat opioid use disorders.
Over those first four years, the program will train hundreds of students and health care employees, according to a university statement.
At the same time, 39 Maine municipalities are receiving millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds over the next decade. Sherwood said communities could use opioid settlement funds to create positions for those who become certified.
