OASAS Congratulates Peter Coleman of NYC Health and Hospitals Corp. on Prestigious Award

ALBANY, NY (04/28/2009)(readMedia)-- NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo today congratulated Peter Coleman, M.S., of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. for being honored by the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence.

Mr. Coleman, the Senior Director of Substance Abuse in the Office of Behavioral Health at HHC since 1999, will be honored Tuesday night with the prestigious Nyswander-Dole Award, given to individuals in recognition of their work in the methadone treatment system.

"I am very proud to call Peter Coleman a colleague in the addiction services field," said Commissioner Carpenter-Palumbo. "His dedication has helped countless numbers of New Yorkers begin a life in recovery through medication-assisted treatment. This honor is well-deserved and we appreciate all he has done on behalf of those we are called to serve."

Mr. Coleman is one of nine individuals from the United States and internationally receiving the award, given in recognition of individuals who have devoted themselves to improving the lives of their patients in the methadone treatment system and have been nominated by their peers for extraordinary service to the opioid treatment community.

In addition to his role as board member and vice president of the NYS Committee of Methadone Program Administrators, Mr. Coleman is a member of the OASAS Governor's Advisory Council and the OASAS Methadone Transformation Advisory Group.

The award is named after Dr. Vincent Dole and Dr. Marie Nyswander who were the first recipients of such an award from AATOD in 1983. It is to be presented at the AATOD national conference, which drew 1,200 participants from 23 countries.

More information on AATOD and the Nyswander-Dole Awards is available at www.aatod.org.