McConnell announces grant for former governor to create rural substance-abuse center for 101 counties in 8 states

Ernie Fletcher spoke in Owensboro, Ky., last year about
his plan to take the Recovery Kentucky concept beyond
Kentucky. (Photo by Alan Warren, Messenger-Inquirer)

An organization headed by a former Kentucky governor will get $6.6 million in federal funds "to establish a center of excellence for substance-abuse disorder and . . . provide treatment and housing options for low-income and high-risk individuals in 47 Kentucky counties," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a press release Aug. 15.

The money comes from the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program of the Department of Health and Human Services. It will go to the Fletcher Group, "which has partnered with the University of Kentucky to establish an opioid response program and will maintain its headquarters in rural Kentucky, the release said. "Its work will target 101 rural counties in eight states."

The group's chair and chief medical officer is Dr. Ernie Fletcher, a physician and Republican who was governor in 2003-07. He said in the release that the grant “will enable the Fletcher Group to establish a Rural Center of Excellence on Substance Use Disorder to continue to spread the successful Recovery Kentucky model to other parts of the commonwealth and beyond. The center will provide technical assistance to rural communities seeking to establish evidence-based treatment and recovery housing options for at-risk populations.” Fletcher, as governor, helped start Recovery Kentucky, a treatment program with housing. He was defeated for re-election by Democrat Steve Beshear, who continued the program.