Opioid crisis

Petitioners seeking to repeal Luzerne County's anti-discrimination ordinance or put it to a referendum submitted more than 15,000 signatures on Monday, organizer Walter Griffith said.

Geisinger will hold two Narcan distribution events this month- one in Scranton and one in Wilkes-Barre.

WVIA will partner with Wyoming County's Opioid Settlement Committee this Sunday for 'Wyoming County Voices: Battling the Opioid Crisis Together.' Admission to the town hall is free, and the event will be hosted at the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock.

Restorative Roots Recovery owns the only licensed male recovery houses in Luzerne County. While the owners have plans to grow, the federal government looks to shrink funding for recovery services.

Healthcare, and access to it, vary throughout WVIA’s 22 county coverage area. Our top health stories covered healthcare deserts, uncertain futures, women's rights and more.

Wyoming County used opioid settlement funds to mail residents drug deactivation systems called Deterra kits.

'Our goal really was to better ourselves, learn from what others are doing across the nation,' Scott Constantini says of The Wright's Center's participation in 3Cs substance use education and training project.

‘There’s no communication’ between county departments, said Pam Keefe, a harm reduction advocate whose brother is serving time for a Luzerne County drug possession charge. Michael Keefe was prescribed methadone out in the community, but was denied the medication while incarcerated, resulting in seizures, he says.

'Critical public health initiative' designed to 'strengthen the integration of our addiction medicine services,' Wright Center official says.