MPHA Executive Director Carlene Pavlos and Deputy Director Oami Amarasingham co-signed a letter to the editor addressing President-Elect Trump’s plan to nominate the antithesis of public health to head the Health and Human Services Department. Pavlos and Amarasingham emphasized that, “regardless of who ultimately heads HHS, working in alliance—across communities, demographics, and sectors—is essential to meeting the public health challenges of today and tomorrow.”
Greenfield, MA—The Regional Transit Authorities Advocates Coalition (RTAAC) joined the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s event announcing the newest round of Fare Free Pilot Program grants open to the Commonwealth’s 15 Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs). These grants direct $30 million from the FY25 budget to support fare free RTA programs for the rest of the fiscal year that ends on June 30, 2025.
Today’s announcement of awardees for this year’s RTA Fare Free Pilot Program recognizes the need for affordable transportation in the over 250 communities that fall within an RTA service area in Massachusetts. When fares are eliminated in RTA service areas, ridership increases significantly, providing residents an affordable option to get to jobs, healthcare appointments, school, economic opportunities, and social engagements.
In addition to the Fare Free Grant Program, the Administration and Legislature have significantly increased operating funding for RTAs over the past two budget cycles. This has resulted in expanded bus routes, more frequent service, and night and weekend service. The increase in RTA funding is a real investment in public transportation across the Commonwealth. Taken together, this is a starting point of a strong commitment from state leaders to fund RTAs at a level where they can continue to expand service to meet the needs of communities statewide.
“Affordable public transportation is critical to help Massachusetts residents access resources and opportunities that help them lead healthy and thriving lives. By prioritizing free fares for RTA riders, and expanding service through significant investments over the last two budget cycles, the Administration and the Legislature have provided a lifeline to residents outside of the MBTA service area,” said Alexis Walls of The Massachusetts Public Health Alliance and one of the co-chairs of RTAAC.
Oami Amarasingham, Deputy Director, Massachusetts Public Health Association, and Craig Andrade, Associate Dean of Practice, Boston University of Public Health, co-signed a letter to the editor regarding recently released data from the MA Department of Public Health and a report from the Boston Public Health Commission calling for greater access to harm-reduction services and underscoring imperative to address structural racism for any policy approach to be both effective and equitable.
Spectrum News 1 featured MPHA’s Lobby Day in this segment.
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette covered the MPHA Lobby Day at the State House and highlighted the leadership of Gary Rosen, a member of the Worcester Board of Public Health, and other legislator sponsors and community members who spoke on MPHA’s top three priority bills.
Carlene Pavlos, MPHA Executive Director, comments on importance of and learnings from implementation of Public Health Excellence grants.
The Boston Globe published a letter from MPHA regarding the need to both reduce direct out of pocket costs for health care while also prioritizing upstream public health approaches and solutions to tackle structural racism in healthcare, including statewide benchmarks and legislation like SAPHE 2.0 and An Act to Advance Health Equity to more comprehensively advance better health for everyone.
Alexis Walls, MPHA Assistant Campaign Director, spoke to Bob Seay on WGBH, on Transit Equity Day about regional transit and how we are honoring the legacy of Rosa Parks and other civil rights champions.
BOSTON — “Massachusetts residents live should not determine their mobility. People living in Regional Transit Authority (RTA) communities deserve access to robust transit that gets them where they need to go to live healthy and full lives,” said Alexis Walls, Assistant Campaign Director at MPHA. Community members along with MPHA, Transportation for Massachusetts, and other members of the RTA Advocates Coalition will present testimony at the Joint Committee on Transportation Public Hearing in support of the RTA Advancement Bill (H.3272/S.2277) on Wednesday, January 24.
Passage of the RTA Advancement Bill will codify a commitment of public funding into the regional transit system in Massachusetts as called for in the passage of the 2022 Fair Share Ballot Initiative; establish an RTA Fund in statute, mirroring the MBTA Fund; increase collaboration between RTAs, community stakeholders and state policymakers; and end the use of an outdated performance metric that incentivizes inequitable fare policies. For the 55% of Massachusetts residents who live outside the MBTA bus and subway service area, limited public transit negatively impacts access to employment, housing, food, and health care among other fundamental building blocks of good health. This is especially true for the low-income, older adults, and people with disabilities who are the primary users of RTAs.
Feasibility report concludes that overdose prevention centers would be effective at reducing overdoses and fatalities
BOSTON — Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts decreased slightly in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2023, compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary data released today by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). Between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023, there were 2,323 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths, eight fewer than the same time last year. Massachusetts had a record 2,359 opioid-related overdose deaths in all of 2022.
The preliminary data show that fentanyl was detected in 93 percent of all opioid-related overdose deaths in the first three months of this year. The increasingly toxic drug supply in the United States and ongoing opioid epidemic have claimed the lives of more than 25,000 people in Massachusetts since 2000.
The reports are being released today alongside a feasibility report recognizing that the establishment of overdose prevention centers (OPCs) in Massachusetts would be an effective intervention to combat preventable overdoses and decrease fatal overdose rates in the state.
“The overdose crisis continues to devastate our communities and families throughout Massachusetts. When I read these numbers, I’m heartbroken to think about the lives connected to each one and their loved ones who are enduring this tragic loss,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Our administration is combating this crisis by continuing to invest in community supports aimed at destigmatizing substance use disorder and reducing the negative effects of substance use. Together, we can advance harm reduction and prevention efforts through evidence-based strategies, including low-threshold access to services and long-term solutions for treatment and recovery.”
Massachusetts Public Health Alliance
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