Allison Adams, longtime public-health official, is new vice president for public policy at Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky

Allison Adams

Allison Adams, a longtime Maysville-area public-health official, will join the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky as vice-president for public policy on June 15.

She will replace Veronica Cecil, who was named deputy Medicaid commissioner in the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Adams has directed the Buffalo Trace District Health Department since 2008 and presided over the Kentucky Health Directors Association for the past four years. She began her public health career in 2000 as a health educator at the district department, which serves 20,000 residents in Mason and Robertson counties.

"The current pandemic has reinforced the importance of public health in preventing and responding to disease, and Allison's laser focus on improving and appropriately funding Kentucky's public-health system is critical to ensuring that we're even better prepared in the future," said Ben Chandler, president and CEO of the foundation.

Most recently, Adams played a key role in getting passed in the 2020 General Assembly a public health transformation bill that refocuses the state's health departments on core public health-policies and strategies, and makes their funding more equitable.

Adams has a B.S. in sports medicine from Marietta College and a masters in public administration from Northern Kentucky University. She completed an associate degree in nursing in 2016.