UPDATE 2-15-17: Click here to view “Inside Opioid Addiction” Forum on KET.


Operation UNITE President/CEO Nancy Hale will be featured in a special Kentucky Educational Television (KET) program, “Inside Opioid Addiction Forum,” to be aired at 9 pm on Monday, February 13.

The Forum was taped before an audience featuring many from southern and eastern Kentucky at KET’s studios in Lexington on Thursday, February 2.

Click here to view photos from the Forum taping.

Preceding the forum, at 8 pm, KET will present a new documentary, “Journey To Recovery,” that explores personal stories of triumph over addiction using various recovery programs. Read related story

Participating in the opioid forum with Hale were: John Tilley, Secretary of Kentucky’s Justice & Public Safety Cabinet; Vickie Yates Brown Glisson, Secretary of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health & Family Services; Tara Moseley, State Program Director for Young People in Recovery; Charlotte Wethington, People Advocating People and Casey’s Law advocate; and Emerson Goodwin, Corporate Regional Director of KentuckyCare.

Other participants in the forum were state Senator Whitney Westerfield, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Patrick Padget, Executive Vice President of the Kentucky Medical Association; and Dr. Allen Brenzel, Clinical Director for the Department of Behavioral Health.

“Inside Opioid Addiction Forum” was hosted by KET’s Renee Shaw and addressed a wide range of issues including:

  • Addiction as a long-term chronic disease
  • Access and availability of treatment
  • The role of family and community support
  • Law enforcement and public policy
  • Prevention and education

“We have a responsibility to help people understand” the challenges and hopes surrounding substance use disorders, Hale said during the forum. She stressed the importance of Kentucky implementing a K-12 curriculum, a strategy that gained support from the other panelists.