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New York City residents could soon take advantage of a planned $8 million clinic that aims to offer pregnant individuals and families living with substance use disorder access to prenatal and postnatal care, addiction medicine, and behavioral health services.
Mayor Eric Adams announced the 6,500-square-foot facility Tuesday as part of his administration’s $43 million gender equity plan and a push to reduce both maternal mortality disparities and opioid-related deaths. The Family Substance Use Disorder clinic, set to open in 2026 at NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H)/Lincoln in the Bronx, is expected to serve about 200 families annually.
With overdoses being a leading cause of deaths in pregnant and postpartum residents, Wendy Wilcox, NYC H+H’s chief women’s health service officer, said she’s “thrilled NYC Health + Hospitals is launching a holistic program to treat pregnant and postpartum people who have substance use disorder with their families.”
“This is a crucial step to lower maternal mortality and morbidity and save lives,” she said in a statement.
Behavioral health conditions, including overdose, accounted for nearly 22%, or 11 out of the total 51 pregnancy-associated deaths, in New York City in 2020. Nine of those deaths were attributed to overdoses or poisonings related to substance use disorder, according to a September 2023 Department of Health and Mental Hygiene report.
Meanwhile, the five-year pregnancy-associated mortality ratio was four times higher for Black residents than their white counterparts between 2016 and 2020—101 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 24 deaths per 100,000 live births, respectively—the report found.
By 2030, the Adams administration wants to reduce overdose deaths by a quarter and lower the Black maternal mortality rate by 10%.