Bluegrass Audit Released

{Frankfort, Kentucky}…Auditor Adam Edelen says an audit has found executives at Bluegrass Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board in Lexington awarded themselves benefits worth millions of dollars without scrutiny from the agency's board of directors. The audit found the agency has paid nearly $3 million in benefit contributions since 1997 to top executives at the CEO's discretion while most employees received little or nothing. The agency, among other things, manages Eastern State Hospital in Lexington and Bluegrass Oakwood in Somerset, both of which are owned by the state. Bluegrass CEO Shannon Ware said last week she plans to retire after four years of leading the agency.