Staten Island PPS is excited to share our Executive Director, Joseph Conte, has been selected as one of Staten Island’s Power 100 from City & State.
“City & State’s Staten Island Power 100 – researched and written by City & State staff along with freelance journalist Aaron Short – recognizes these key politicians, as well as the most influential local leaders in business, labor, nonprofits, advocacy, education and other arenas intersecting with New York politics and government.”
Staten Island has a drug problem. Opioid overdose deaths in the New York City borough are 170 percent higher than the national average. While fentanyl is responsible for the majority of deaths, it’s not the only substance to blame. Overprescribing opioids has contributed to the crisis, as well as the fact that addiction service providers have been spread too thin.
Joseph Conte knows about these issues all too well. He’s the executive director of the Staten Island Performing Provider System, a clinical and social service health-care network, and he leads the island’s efforts to address the crisis. Conte told The Daily Beast that the country’s public officials have only recently started putting their money where their mouths are.
A number of pharmaceutical companies in the US have been forced to settle claims related to a deadly opioid epidemic. Experts have linked the crisis to prescription practices in the country. In the second of this two-part series, William Denselow looks at efforts to change those practices and how settlement funds could be used to help people struggling with addiction. Watch the full video here.
