Buprenorphine Trainings Across the State

The Department of Health and American Society of Addiction Medicine are sponsoring several courses at different locations.

Physicians, ARNPs, Physician Assistants, and staff of clinics who serve these patients are all invited.

Courses that satisfy eight hours of buprenorphine waiver requirements include:

• March 15th in Wenatchee. Contact Dr. Eric Olson
• May 25th in Olympia. Contact Dr. Lucinda Grande
• March 26th in Spokane as part of the NW Rural Health Conference - This course will combine four hours online and four hours of in-person training to help providers qualify to prescribe buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid dependence and opioid use disorder. It will satisfy the requirements for ARNPs who need an additional 16 hours of online training.

Expanding access to treatment that works is an important part of the Washington State Response to Opioids. Please encourage your providers in your emergency rooms, family practice settings, perinatal services, and behavioral health settings to attend. Treatment works; people can get better. All of your efforts to date have helped Washington be one of the few states in the nation where death rates from opioids is decreasing.

DOH provides technical assistance to help new practices start office-based buprenorphine services.

Please contact Mary Catlin, (360-819-7407 or 206-604-2403) at the Department of Health, if you have any questions.

Thank you for all you do to care for others.