First MA Overdose Prevention Center May Open In Worcester

WORCESTER, MA — Following several years of record overdose deaths in Massachusetts, a new approach to preventing them may be coming to Worcester.

The Worcester Board of Health on Monday endorsed a plan to site an overdose prevention center (OPC) — also called a safe-injection site — in the city. OPCs offer a safe place with medical staff where drug users can go as an alternative to using at home or outdoors.

Following Monday's unanimous board vote, state health officials may start work on planning a pilot OPC in Worcester. Health officials have not approached details like a location or timeline for opening yet.

Monday's meeting featured a presentation by researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health People, Place & Health Collective, which is in the midst of studying the effectiveness of the first two OPCs in the U.S. in Providence and New York City.

The Providence City Council only approved the city's OPC in February. The city will use money from an opioid settlement to fund the OPC, and it will offer access to services like HIV testing, showers, food, treatment — and lifesaving medications like Narcan.

A recent study published in The Lancet found that OPCs in Toronto (called supervised consumption sites in Canada) reduced overdose deaths drastically in neighborhoods where they were available. Drug users died at a rate of about 2.7 per 100,000 people, versus more than 8 per 100,000 where OPCs weren't available. Canada pioneered the approach by sanctioning the first OPC in North America in Vancouver, B.C., in 2003.

Massachusetts saw overdose deaths rise beginning in 2020. The state notched record overdose death totals in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Preliminary data show an estimated drop for 2023 at 2,323 deaths, but that's only about 36 fewer than the all-time high seen in 2022.

Worcester overdose deaths have risen in line with statewide totals. The city saw a 34 percent increase in overdose deaths in 2022 at an all-time high of 141 deaths, according to state data. The problem isn't isolated to the city: nearby towns including Shrewsbury, Auburn and Millbury saw overdose death increases between 2021 and 2022.