MARQUETTE, MI-- The Marquette County Health Department will start offering its syringe services program at Pathways in Marquette next week.
The “New Points” SSP will dispose of used syringes and distribute sterile ones to those who inject street drugs. The county’s first New Points site opened at the Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center at Sawyer last September.
Health Department Medical Director Terry Frankovich says one of the consequences of the opioid epidemic is the spread of hepatitis C in the young adult population. It’s spread through contact with blood and is a leading cause of liver cancer. The Upper Peninsula, as a region, has the highest hepatitis C rate for those 18 to 29 in the state.
Frankovich says the goal of the program is to link users to medical and mental health care, and to steer them toward recovery. She says locating the SSP at Pathways will improve access for residents in Marquette’s downtown area.
The Pathways site will open Tuesday, May 7, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 200 West Spring Street.
