Kentucky News

Great Health Divide | EKY addiction recovery ecosystem is strong, but gaps, high demand remain

Successful pre-pandemic efforts provide a blueprint as advocates try to address COVID-era overdose increases.

By Garrett Wymer

CORBIN, Ky. (WKYT) – Before he led Addiction Recovery Care, Tim Robinson was in need of addiction recovery care.

“I almost drank myself to death,” Robinson told WKYT’s Garrett Wymer on a recent winter day inside Corbin City Hall. “I was a prosecutor, but I was also a raging alcoholic.”

Back then, he saw, it was a lot harder to find help – one reason he founded a residential recovery center and eventually ARC, which now operates a network of more than 30 addiction treatment facilities across the state.

“There was not a lot of resources in Kentucky, and not a lot of resources in eastern Kentucky,” said Robinson, ARC’s CEO, having recently celebrated 16 years of sobriety. “We went from really a treatment desert in 2008, and because of efforts like ours, Recovery Kentucky, and other organizations – the Healing Place in Louisville, VOA in Louisville, Manchester – a lot of organizations – we’ve really increased access to treatment, leading the way in terms of having resources for our neighbors.”