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Senator Bill Cassidy visits, tours Franklin health clinic

The Teche Action Clinic recently received federal grant money
Posted at 5:29 PM, Aug 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-20 18:34:13-04

Senator Bill Cassidy visited a health clinic in Franklin today to talk about mental health and opioid addiction.

Cassidy visited The Teche Action Clinic in Franklin; the center is a private, non-profit health clinic.

Cassidy announced at the beginning of August that the state would receive over $6 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fight the opioid epidemic.

The senator helped last year to write and pass legislation to combat the opioid crisis.

The grants included a little over $5 million in Integrated Behavioral Health Services (IBHS) Health Center awards to 31 sites. These awards are to help health centers to "increase access to high quality integrated mental health and substance abuse disorders services, including opioid use disorder."

The Teche Action Clinic received $167,000 in grant money.

Cassidy toured the facility and learned how the clinic meets the primary care needs of area residents and assists those with mental helath and substance abuse disorders, including opioid addictions.

Senator Cassidy said that the cause is one he easily connects with.

"I understand the challenges in bringing health care to those who are less well off, and so it's kind of natural for me to connect with this and to want to further their mission. I'm all for how do we make health care more affordable for American families, and this is part of that effort."