The president of a Kentucky health advocacy organization says it’s a time of transition for his agency.
The CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky spoke at a meeting of the Lexington Rotary Club Thursday.
As Ben Chandler spoke, he showed graphs, demonstrating Kentucky’s ranking near the top in areas like obesity, drug overdose deaths, and adult smoking.
Chandler says the Commonwealth has the highest rate of cancer deaths in the country.
While the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has primarily served in an awareness and education role, Chandler says the 16-year-old organization is becoming more policy-focused.
“We are going to be involved in policy on every level. We’re going to be involved in local policy and fiscal courts and city councils and we’re going to be involved in state legislative policy,” noted Chandler.
The former congressman, state attorney general, and state auditor says distributing information about health care is important, but encouraging governmental action can make a bigger difference.