Doug Leonard, executive director of the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress, has announced plans to retire this summer after two years leading the organization, which seeks to address substance abuse disorder in Bartholomew County.
Leonard, who came out of retirement in 2019 to take on the role after interim executive director Jeff Jones stepped down, said on Tuesday that he plans to retire by the end of the July.
ASAP expects to start a search for Leonard’s successor in the near future.
Leonard, who previous served as president and CEO of Columbus Regional Health and president of the Indiana Hospital Association, said his tenure at ASAP has been “one of the most rewarding experiences of my career” and praised the organization’s team, which he said has been one of the best he’s ever worked with.
Launched in 2017, ASAP is a community-wide response to address substance use disorder, including the opioid crisis, in Bartholomew County. ASAP formed through a partnership between Columbus and Bartholomew County governments and Columbus Regional Health.
“It has been a tremendous honor to have this role,” Leonard said Tuesday. “I think during my time here we took the really brilliant plans that had been laid for the (ASAP Hub), and for ASAP generally, and we were able to implement. I want to pay tribute to the people that came together to talk about this problem and the optimal ways were to deal with it.”
The announcement comes as ASAP officials are looking at how they can bolster the community-wide response to substance use disorder amid a worsening drug overdose crisis that experts believe has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Last year, there were 31 drug overdose deaths in Bartholomew County, up from 24 in 2019 and the highest since at least 2015, according to the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office.
The COVID-19 pandemic upended ASAP’s operations last year, temporarily limiting access to several local outreach programs, in-person meetings and treatment, altering the operations and efforts of organizations that serve as a lifeline for those in recovery, including the ASAP Hub.
The ASAP Hub, located in the Doug Otto Center at 1531 13th St., reopened to walk-in clients about four weeks ago after all staff were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Leonard said.
The Hub had been closed to walk-in clients since late November due to the pandemic but remained open for recovery meetings.
The Hub was previously closed to walk-in clients for several weeks during the spring.
“The number of walk-ins is still building up,” Leonard said. “We experienced that after our first closure for COVID. It takes a while for the word to get out and the rhythm of people to start coming back in.”
Under Leonard’s tenure, ASAP identified a lack of available recovery housing as one of the most significant gaps in the county-wide effort to help people overcome substance use disorder and sought to act as a catalyst to alleviate that shortage.
Since then, several recovery and sober living transitional homes operated by a variety of providers have opened in Bartholomew County, though many were delayed or limited in capacity due to the pandemic.
In September, ASAP opened a 1,734-square-foot sober living transitional home in the Lincoln-Central Neighborhood in Columbus for men who are attempting to overcome substance abuse disorder.
ASAP plans to open a second men’s home in Columbus “very soon” and then a women’s home in the coming weeks, Leonard said.
Currently, there are eight sober homes in the community, compared to none a year and a half ago, Leonard said.
Before last year, the closest recovery housing for Bartholomew County women was in Monroe County, and the closest recovery housing for men was in Jennings County, ASAP officials said.
“I think we had a role in helping those (homes) to come about even though we didn’t implement them or operate them,” Leonard said. “But I think one of the great ideas about ASAP is that it’s a place where we can just collaborate and inspire and help others to bring about additional solutions.”
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Visit www.asapbc.org or call 812-418-8705 to learn more about the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress (ASAP) and inquire about the services it provides.
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