Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin pledged $50 million of the state’s opioid settlement funds to create an Arkansas Children’s Hospital research center dedicated to studying the impact of opioids on children, he announced Thursday morning.
“I’ve imposed upon myself a desire to at least have one eye looking for some long term infrastructure investment that will continue to help Arkansans … Beyond a year, beyond the life of the money, beyond my life, what we’re doing today will impact Arkansas, and ultimately the world, after we’re all gone,” Griffin said.
He added that the efforts that have been made to target opioid abuse, like distribution of Narcan, an opioid reversal drug, are “ephemeral.”
“We’ll be able to say we did that and that we learned a lot and we’re applying it. That’s great, but then it’s over. I said ‘I don’t want that … So I said, I’m gonna just tell you, I think we need brick and mortar,’” Griffin said referring to his initial phone call to Marcy Doderer, Arkansas Children’s president and chief executive officer.
The Arkansas Children’s Research Institute will also invest $20 million into the facility, Doderer said.
The $70 million National Center for Opioid Research & Clinical Effectiveness is expected to be 45,000 square-feet and set to break ground in late 2024 on Arkansas Children’s Little Rock campus.
The research center will be the first of its kind in the nation that focuses on opioid research for the mother and baby unit, Doderer said.
“We truly do still sit in epidemic proportions when it comes to the opioid crisis. Opioid deaths are now the leading cause of accidental death across our country, and they’re leading the cause of poisoning death in children five and under,” she said.
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