2023-11-07 07:07:27
FIRST MEETING — The West Virginia First Foundation met Monday in Charleston for its first organizational meeting. — Steven Allen Adams
CHARLESTON — The public/private foundation that will decide how to distribute nearly $1 billion in opioid settlement dollars held its first organizational meeting Monday.
The West Virginia First Foundation met Monday all day at the Truist Building in downtown Charleston, electing its foundation officers, drawing lots for staggered terms, appointing members to committees, and having its first executive session to discuss other matters behind closed doors.
“It’s been a bit of a road to get here, but we’re all thankful that we are here,” said John Jenkins, the fund administrator for the West Virginia First Qualified Settlement Fund, at the beginning of Monday’s meeting.
Members of the West Virginia First Foundation voted for its leadership team, including: Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey as chairman; State Health Officer Dr. Matthew Christiansen as vice chairman; former Department of Homeland Security secretary Jeff Sandy as treasurer; and Harrison County Superintendent of Schools Dora Stutler as secretary.
Speaking at a press conference Monday afternoon at the Attorney General’s Office in the State Capitol Building following the meeting, Harvey said the foundation had a fruitful first meeting, including creating a bank account.
“We had an incredibly busy first day and we got a lot done, but it’s just the first steps in shoring up this foundation and our fundamental call, which is we’re going to adopt and create tools to combat the opioid scourge that has plagued this state for a generation,” Harvey said. “My service is to honor the tens of thousands of West Virginians that have passed.”
“We know as a board that we don’t have all the answers,” Christiansen said. “We’re going to need to engage with our stakeholder groups — everyone from employers, to people with lived experience, to law enforcement, to educators, uh, and everybody in between — to make sure that we’re hearing what’s happening on the ground and the best use of these resources and the best return on investment that we can make as a board to make a big difference.”
The Attorney General’s Office is empowered with hiring an executive director for the foundation, though the hire is subject to approval of the foundation. While the executive director position was discussed by the foundation in executive session, no executive director has been hired.
At Monday’s press conference, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey urged patience as the foundation begins its work, including the creation of an expert panel that will provide further guidance to the foundation. No time tables were set for the hiring of an executive director or the appointment of the expert panel.
“There’s an opportunity to really do incredible things, but today’s the first day,” Morrisey said. “I ask for everyone’s patience along the way. I think that people are trying to do good things.”
The West Virginia First Foundation has been nearly two years in the making. Morrisey first announced in February 2022 that representatives of the cities and counties involved in opioid litigation had agreed to a memorandum of understanding to create the foundation as well as a formula for distributing settlement awards. The state Mass Litigation Panel had ordered the Attorney General’s Office to develop a distribution formula.
Since then, all 55 counties and more than 220 cities and counties have signed on to the West Virginia First memorandum of understanding. During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 674, recognizing the West Virginia First Foundation and setting up the governing board selection process.
The foundation consists of 11 members, with five members appointed by Gov. Jim Justice and six members representing regions of the state. The governor’s appointments include Harvey, Sandy, Stutler, Marshall University first lady Alys Smith, and Raleigh County Commissioner Greg Duckworth.
The six regional members were selected over the summer in a series of meetings across the state. Regional members include Christianson; Mon Health System Vice President of External Affairs Jonathan Board; Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce; Northwood Health Systems Medical Director Dr. Steven L. Corder; Dr. Michael “Tony” Kelly; and Berkeley County Community Corrections Director Timothy Czaja.
The West Virginia First program will divide settlement dollars from opioid manufacturers and distributors, with 24.5 percent going to cities and counties, 3 percent going to the Attorney General’s Office and 72.5 percent going to the West Virginia First Foundation.
Once funds from future settlements are distributed, the funds can be used by cities and counties for developing programs for substance abuse avoidance, research and education; funding for law enforcement to combat the sale and distribution of drugs; and substance abuse treatment and recovery.
The foundation will be seeded with $10 million obtained by the Attorney General’s Office from the 2021 McKinsey and Company settlement. Morrisey said the Legislature will have to appropriate those funds for use for the foundation.
With May’s $68 million settlement with Kroger for oversupplying opioids in West Virginia, the state has approximately $940 million in settlements with multiple opioid manufacturers, distributors, and prescribers, though that dollar amount is the gross amount. The final dollar amounts are still being negotiated, and some of those dollars will be going towards attorney fees.
The net amount will come in tranches over the next year and several years. Some of the first dollars — $73.5 million — will be going directly to the cities and counties per the West Virginia First distribution formula.
The Attorney General’s Office and a coalition of cities and counties won the $940 million in settlements against eight opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies: Johnson and Johnson, Teva, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Walmart, Allergan, and Rite Aid.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for the State of West Virginia to finally begin a lot of the healing from the ravages of the drug epidemic that’s been going on for so long,” Morrisey said.
“We want to save lives,” Harvey said. “We want to restore families. And we now are so hopeful, all of us who sit on that board … that we actually have the tools to fight back.”
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