Governor's Institute on Alcohol & Substance Abuse - History of the Governor's Institute

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History of the Governor's Institute

Mary Powell Associate Executive Director and David Warren Former Executive Director circa 1990

With encouragement from the Governor's office and the State Substance Abuse Services Section, two pediatricians, Dr. Mike Durfee and Dr. Jonnie McLeod, established the Governor's Institute on Alcohol & Substance Abuse in 1989.

Like all health professionals, Dr. Durfee and Dr. McLeod noticed the manifestation of substance abuse throughout their careers. Doctors diagnose mothers with low birthweight babies, emotionally disturbed teens, battered spouses, date rape victims and injured workers. In many of these cases, addictions aggravated or caused the conditions. Too often, only the serious consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse are brought to the clinic or hospital: end-stage liver disease, heart disease, cancer, trauma, DWI or other crime victims, HIV infected individuals and suicides. Patients with conditions caused by underlying substance abuse problems could be prevented if promptly recognized and properly treated.

Governor's Institute Medical School Fellows 1993

The Institute was later incorporated by a steering group of representatives from the four medical schools in North Carolina (WFU School of Medicine, Brody School of Medicine at ECU, Duke School of Medicine and the UNC-CH School of Medicine), State Substance Abuse Services Section of the Department of Health and Human Services, Area Health Education Centers, and the Governor's Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse.

As an independent, non-governmental and nonprofit organization, the Institute is able to develop partnerships between various organizations. The Institute supports linkages among educational programs, professional organizations, tertiary care facilities, clinics and hospitals, treatment facilities, consumer groups and the substance abuse field by participating in coalitions and state planning efforts. As a neutral coordinator of resources, it serves as a clearinghouse to bring more research findings into clinics and other treatment settings and more information about treatment effectiveness into the classroom. In its fifteen-year history, the Institute has become a resource center for technical and programmatic assistance.