Opioid overdose deaths are down in a county that had the second highest per-capita rate of opioid fatalities of any county in New York in 2018.
Democratic Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan and the Ulster County Department of Health say opioid-related fatalities have significantly decreased in their county. In 2019, there were 33 opioid-related fatalities compared to 56 the previous year, representing about a 41 percent decrease. Ryan has said that one of his priorities is to ramp up efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. In July, he set a goal to reduce opioid-related fatalities by 50 percent in two years.
