Community Forum: Thoughts on Safe Injection Sites in a Burgeoning Opioid Epidemic (recap below)

September 1st, 2026

“Thoughts on Safe Injection Sites in a Burgeoning Opioid Epidemic”

As our country continues to grapple with the surging number of overdose deaths across our country, now topping 100,000 in the past year alone, the Root Center for Advanced Recovery is looking to open up discussions on how to better to serve our community at large, and those who struggle with Substance Use Disorder.

Our program will be moderated by, Dr. Joseph Podolski, Root Center Chief Medical Officer, and will include many others from the area who will join to share their opinions, expertise, and insight. The panelists include, Mark Jenkins, Executive Director of the CT Harm Reduction Alliance, Dr. Steven Wolf, Former Chair of St. Francis Hospital’s ED, initiated the first Suboxone induction program in the ED in the state, Peter Canning, EMS coordinator at UCONN and author promoting safe injection sites, Alina Kahn, University of Maryland student who has written in favor of legislation around safe injection sites, Patricia Rehmer, former commissioner of Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and former President of Hartford Healthcare Behavioral Health Network, and Nicole Bell, a former New Britain clinic client.

We are opening this event up to the community to join in the conversation. We welcome all opinions, and want this to be an informative and educational discussion that can help grow the journey to recovery for the hundreds of thousands who suffer, including the more than 5,500 patients the Root Center serves on a daily basis.

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In case you missed it, our Advanced Recovery Institute’s first community forum was a great success last night! ARI is a new entity of the Root Center that is committed to research and training to elevate clinical care. The forum’s topic was on Safe Injection Sites, and we thank our panelists, and also State Senator Saud Anwar, for attending and sparking such an important conversation that we hope will lead to helping more people in the future. Change starts with having a conversation. If you’d like to watch the forum, click here.

 

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