Advisory Committee

Allen J. Brenzel, MD, MBA
Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental & Intellectual Disabilities

Representing: Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental & Intellectual Disabilities

Dr. Allen Brenzel is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Kentucky. He joined the UK faculty in 1993 after completing a combined residency training program in Adult and Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics. Since 2010, via a contract with UK, he has served as the Medical Director for the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental & Intellectual Disabilities (BHDID) within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS). With over 20 years interfacing with medical providers, state government and payors, he has developed broad health policy expertise in many areas.

His work has included working to modernize the State Medicaid Plan to include a full continuum of behavioral health and substance abuse services. In partnership with other state agencies, Dr. Brenzel has worked on reducing prescription drug abuse, increasing access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), addressing buprenorphine utilization and diversion, disseminating naloxone rescue kits and developing guidelines for Kentucky's Harm Reduction and Syringe Exchange programs. He was the Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) for the Kentucky, SAMHSA MAT-PDOA grant, which implemented a coordinated care model to care for women with opioid use disorder who are pregnant or parenting. Most recently he is serving at the Co-PI for Kentucky's Opioid STR and Opioid SOR grants that will bring over 90 million federal dollars to Kentucky to address the opioid use disorder crisis over the next 2 years.

Kristy Deep, MD, MA
University of Kentucky

Representing: Physicians

Kristy S. Deep, MD, MA is an associate professor of Internal Medicine and residency program director at the University of Kentucky where she co-chairs the Opioid Stewardship Committee. She completed all of her clinical training at UK including an academic medicine fellowship with a Master's degree in Educational Policy and Evaluation. She is board certified in palliative medicine and works clinically as a hospitalist. Her other interests include doctor-patient communication and end-of-life care. As a native of Breathitt county, her work in opioid stewardship stems from personal knowledge of the harms of widespread opioid use.

Danesh Mazloomdoost, MD
University of Kentucky

Representing: Physicians

Danesh Mazloomdoost, MD is a native Kentuckian and the son of two passionate physicians who started Kentucky’s first multidisciplinary pain clinic. He trained in anesthesiology from Johns Hopkins and completed an Interventional Pain fellowship at MD Anderson before post-fellowship training in Musculoskeletal and Regenerative medicine. He speaks, consults and advocates on the opioid epidemic and redefining protocols for orthopedic and neurological pain. Dr. Danesh authored the international best seller Fifty Shades of Pain: How to Cheat on Your Surgeon with a Drug-Free Affair and is now Medical Director of Wellward Regenerative Medicine – a living laboratory for defining the future of pain and orthopedic care.

Katherine Marks, PhD
University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Representing: Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental & Intellectual Disabilities

Katherine Marks is an assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Science in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. She also serves as the Project Director for the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort, which includes the SAMHSA-funded State Targeted Response and State Opioid Response grants awarded to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Dr. Marks’s research focuses on behavioral health recovery, implementation of evidence-based interventions into community systems and building recovery-oriented systems of care.

Doug Oyler, PharmD
UK HealthCare
 

Representing: Pharmacy

Dr. Doug Oyler serves as the Director of the Office of Opioid Safety at the University of Kentucky, where he leads the institution’s opioid stewardship program, including development, implementation and evaluation of strategies to improve safe opioid use within the health system. He has collaborated with the Kentucky Hospital Association, KASPER and numerous other state and local entities to improve opioid use throughout the state. His work in opioid stewardship has been featured in the American Journal of Health System Pharmacy, the Journal of Opioid Management and the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, among others.

Additionally, Dr. Oyler serves as the Associate Director of Pharmacy for the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services; he is also an associate professor within the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Oyler graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy in 2010, where he then completed a pharmacy practice residency, a critical care specialty residency and a fellowship in academia.

Ryan Stanton, MD
Baptist Health Lexington 

Representing: ED Physicians, ACEP

A Board-certified emergency physician and EMS medical director emergency physician in Lexington, Ryan Stanton is also doctor on the AMR/NASCAR safety team. He has 27 years of media experience and is the chief medical consultant for WKYT-TV. Stanton also has a weekly "What's Going Around" segment that airs on eight stations around the southeast and his show, StantonMD. He is a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Past-President of the Kentucky Chapter. You can find his page Stanton MD: Everyday Medicine on Facebook and StantonMD.com.

Alex Elswick, PhD
Voices of Hope 

Representing: Patient/Family Engagement

Alex Elswick is a tireless advocate for people with substance use disorders. He earned a B.A. from Centre College, an M.S. and a PhD from the University of Kentucky. Elswick’s knowledge and experience with addiction is multifaceted. His professional experience, non-profit work and research agenda all focus on long term recovery. But most importantly, Elswick is himself a person in long-term recovery from the chronic disease of addiction.

Barbara Kinder, RN, BSN, MA, MBA, CPPS
Clark Regional Medical Center
 

Representing: Nursing (CNO)

Barbara Kinder joined Clark Regional Medical Center as the Chief Clinical Officer in 2012 after serving in various clinical and leadership roles including Chief Nursing Officer at a hospital in Florida. She has also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer during her time at Clark Regional Medical Center. Barbara began her career in healthcare as a Registered Nurse in her home state of Kentucky over twenty years ago. She obtained her Bachelor of Science Nursing from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY and furthered her education by earning a Masters in Management & Leadership as well as her Masters in Business Administration. She is a certified professional in patient safety (CPPS) and has been a member of LifePoint CNO Council.

Barbara was nominated for CNO of the year in 2013 for LifePoint Central Group and LifePoint CNO of the year 2015.

Barbara is committed to a culture of quality, patient safety, physician and employee satisfaction and to our mission of Making Communities Healthier.

Trena Stocker
Mercy Health Marcum and Wallace Hospital

Representing: Hospital CEOs

Trena Stocker is the President of Mercy Health Marcum and Wallace Hospital. She is an RN by background obtaining her BSN from Jacksonville State University and her MSN and MHA from University of Phoenix. Prior to being the President of Mercy Health Marcum and Wallace she was the Chief Nursing Executive for 6 years. She has served in various leadership positions in nursing including time spent in the United States Navy.

Nina W. Eisner
The Ridge Behavioral Health System

Representing: Psychiatric, Chemical Dependency and Behavioral Health Hospitals

Nina W. Eisner has served in clinical and administrative health care positions for 45 years. She is presently the CEO of The Ridge Behavioral Health System in Lexington, Kentucky, which provides an integrated system of inpatient and outpatient care for the past 17 years. Before that she was the CEO of Pavilion in Champaign, Illinois, for 16 years, a Behavioral Health Hospital, outpatient system and alternative school. Eisner also worked with Carle Clinic and Foundation in Champaign/ Urbana, Illinois, where she provided clinical social work services, managed parts of a vertically integrated health care system and developed Employee Assistance Programs and addictions treatment services.

Eisner holds a BSW from the University of Kentucky and an MSW from the University of Illinois. She has served on numerous Boards over these decades and worked extensively with the Illinois Hospital Association and the Kentucky Hospital Association. In her KHA capacity she has served on the Board for many years, chaired the Psychiatric/Chemical Dependency Hospital Forum for 8 years and worked with many other committees in KHA. She has also served on many community and statewide boards such as United Way of the Bluegrass, Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky, Family Care Center Board and others.

Mike Kalfas, MD
St. Elizabeth Healthcare/Journey Recovery Center

Representing: Addiction Specialists

Dr Mina "Mike" Kalfas, MD, FAAFP is a native and lifelong resident of northern Kentucky. He graduated from Campbell County High School, received his BS in Biology from Northern Kentucky University, and attended medical school at the University of Kentucky. After medical school he attended the Bethesda Family Practice residency Program in Cincinnati, Ohio, and started practice Falmouth, Kentucky. It is there he became the director of an inpatient drug and alcohol unit and became certified in addiction medicine, beginning a lifelong passion for the field.

He moved his family practice to Fort Wright in 2011, but continued actively practicing addiction medicine and battling the disease of addiction in the community.

He practices Addiction Medicine with St. Elizabeth Healthcare at Journey Recovery Center in Crestview Hills and works part time in correctional medicine as well serving as medical director at the Campbell and Boone County detention centers.

Representing: Addiction Specialists

Dr. Koeller is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She is a member of the American Medical Association, Kentucky Medical Association, Northern Kentucky Medical Society, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Kentucky Society of Addiction Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians and Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Koeller completed her Residency training in Family Medicine at the St. Elizabeth Family Practice Residency Program in Edgewood, Kentucky. As a Primary Care Physician, she worked in a large multi-specialty group in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. She began managing addiction patients in 2001 and achieved Board Certification in Addiction Medicine through the American Board of Addiction Medicine in 2012.

Dr. Koeller has over 15 years of experience in the treatment of Addiction. From 2013-2015, she was Director of Medication Assisted Treatment at Gateway Recovery Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and developed the Addiction Medicine program there. In 2015, she transitioned to St. Elizabeth Physicians and developed the St. Elizabeth Physicians Addiction Medicine and Recovery Center, now Journey Recovery Center, in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. Journey Recovery Center, a COR-12 based model of recovery, offers medication assisted treatment, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) assessments, group and individual therapy, case management and peer support with a staff of over 30. As Medical Director of St. Elizabeth Healthcare (SEH) Addiction Medicine, she advised the OB Quality Subcommittee for Opioid Use Disorder on the development of the inpatient Buprenorphine Induction Program for pregnant women with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). She serves on the Heroin Task Force Committee and the Regional Planning Committee for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). She has worked in the development of the Baby Steps Program providing medical oversight and treatment of pregnant and parenting women with Substance Use disorder. She is currently working with SEH Emergency Department Bridge Clinic in an advisory capacity. She is certified in the placement of the NSS Bridge device for opioid withdrawal and is also certified in the placement of the Probuphine Implant for SUD.

She has worked to promote and expand the care of patients with the disease of addiction through educating physicians, residents, medical students and the community. Dr. Koeller has given educational talks for the St. Elizabeth Family Medicine Residency Program, the St. Elizabeth Medical Staff, the Kentucky Medical Association, Northern Kentucky University and the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati communities. She was a speaker at the 2018 Becker’s Hospital Review and at the AMGA 2017 National Convention. Dr. Koeller has networked with local behavioral health organizations, residential recovery programs and community resources to assist in the delivery of comprehensive care to her patients.