Want more reporting from THE CITY? Sign up for Scoop , our free weekday newsletter, to have our latest news delivered right to your inbox.
This article was originally published by Healthbeat , a nonprofit newsroom covering public health published by Civic News Company and KFF Health News . Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free New York City newsletter here .
As New Yorkers continue to die of opioid overdoses, Gov. Kathy Hochul has resisted calls to declare a public health emergency, frustrating advocates and providers who believe the move could accelerate efforts to mitigate the crisis.
During a meeting Friday of the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board — which is tasked with making recommendations for the allocation of money from settlements with the pharmaceutical companies that drove the crisis — many members expressed dismay over the absence of an emergency declaration from the state.
Joyce Rivera, a member of the advisory board and chief executive officer of St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction, a syringe exchange program in the Bronx, argued that the advisory board should push for a public health emergency declaration.