La Vida Hospitality restaurants awarded for efforts combating substance abuse
La Vida Hospitality became the third restaurant group to receive the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health’s Restaurant Accolade Program Gold Award Oct. 7.
The Gold Award is presented to groups whose restaurants reach the highest level of the program, which teaches food service industry staff how to respond to opioid overdoses and helps restaurants establish policies and workplace environments to support employees and patrons struggling with substance use disorders.
“[By] achieving the gold level, you’re enhancing the well-being of your staff and their friends, reducing healthcare costs, increasing engagement and employee morale, and creating a safe culture [that] destigmatizes not only opioid use disorder, but also behavioral health in general,” said Karen Records, DSAMH chief of social determinants. “You’re creating a more welcoming environment.”
“You never know who might come into your restaurant,” said Restaurant Accolade Project Manager Anne Carr. “A restaurant worker who’s been trained to administer Narcan might save somebody’s life.”
La Vida Hospitality group includes Crooked Hammock Brewery, Big Chill Beach Club, Taco Reho and Big Chill Surf Cantina, where the award presentation took place. Each of the restaurants received a certificate and trophy.
There to accept the awards were Kathy McDonald, La Vida’s director of community development; Jennifer Jones, general manager at Big Chill Beach Club; and Brian Massa, general manager at Crooked Hammock Lewes.
DSAMH developed the Restaurant Accolade Program in 2021 in response to the Delaware restaurant industry workforce’s historically high incidence of overdose. The initiative aims to equip restaurant staff statewide with the critical knowledge, skills and resources to reduce overdose deaths.
Program participants can earn bronze, silver or gold level awards, depending on education and participation.
To earn bronze, restaurant employees must receive overdose prevention training, which takes about 15 minutes, and there must be Narcan – a brand of the medication naloxone, a life-saving nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose – readily available onsite.
For silver, a restaurant/group must complete the bronze-level criteria in addition to having one or two workers trained to help those in need find resources.
For gold, a restaurant/group must complete both bronze- and silver-level criteria and also implement policies in support of individuals with substance use disorders and train all staff on them.
High 5 Hospitality was the first participant in the program to achieve gold. Paradise Grill came next, now joined by La Vida.
To make all program levels more attainable, the Delaware Division of Public Health and its partner organizations offer free training and support.
For more information about the program, go to helpisherede.com and select the Community Partners tab in the top menu. Then scroll to the Toolkits and Programs section at the bottom of the page.
Ellen McIntyre is a reporter covering education and all things Dewey Beach. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Penn State - Schreyer Honors College in May 2024, then completed an internship writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In 2023, she covered the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand as a freelancer for the Associated Press and saw her work published by outlets including The Washington Post and Fox Sports. Her variety of reporting experience covers crime and courts, investigations, politics and the arts. As a Hockessin, Delaware native, Ellen is happy to be back in her home state, though she enjoys traveling and learning about new cultures. She also loves live music, reading, hiking and spending time in nature.
