photo by: Courtesy of Heartland Community Health Center

Heartland Community Health Center's facility at 1312 W. Sixth St.

Heartland Community Health Center has been selected to receive two grants, totaling $400,000, aimed at preventing, reducing and treating substance abuse and addiction.

Heartland announced the grant awards in a news release Monday. The two grants were awarded by the Sunflower Foundation’s Kansas Fights Addiction program. Per the release, the grants will “significantly bolster” Heartland’s commitment to addressing addiction in the community; one of the grants is specifically designated for addiction treatment, and the other is for addiction prevention.

The grants will allow the organization to provide comprehensive, evidence-based treatment options for individuals struggling with addiction, with one of them supporting the costs of medical assisted therapy options — the use of medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of the Kansas Fights Addiction grant,” Elizabeth Keever, Heartland’s Chief Development Officer, said in the release. “This grant will allow us to expand our addiction treatment programs and further our mission to provide accessible, high-quality health care services to individuals facing addiction challenges in our community.”

Heartland Chief Clinical Officer Lisa Russell said in the release that the demand for substance use treatment has grown significantly at Heartland. Last year, the clinic provided medical assisted therapy services to 504 patients for non-alcohol related substance use disorders and another 186 patients for alcohol-related disorders.

But Russell said the largest growth has been for those receiving treatment for an opioid use disorder; this year, Heartland has already treated 283 individuals with opioid use disorder, compared with 232 patients through the entirety of 2022.