NORWAY, Mich. (WZMQ) – In Dickinson County, a short-notice tri-county meeting was held to address concerns about the counties’ community mental health provider, Northpointe Behavioral Health. While around 50 Northpointe frontline employees showed up in support of the organization and its leadership, 3 county boards gathered to discuss improving the quality and quantity of mental health care in the CMH’s catchment area.
Dickinson, Iron, and Menominee County commissioners, while commending Northpointe’s frontline staff, expressed several concerns with leadership and the administration of the CMH (Community Mental Health Provider). Dickinson County Commissioner Ann Martin, also a Northpointe board member, addressed what she called ‘bad blood’ in recent Northpointe board meetings, detailing how meetings are currently about twice a month in lengthy 2-hour sessions, without much progress. Dickinson & Menominee Counties raised issues about violations of the Open Meetings Act. Multiple counties have concerns over the virtual delivery of mental health services, unchecked retention bonuses, and a CEO salary increase without a wage study.
Barb Kramer, a Dickinson County Commissioner, stated, “CEO salary was raised by 15,000 dollars to more than 145,000 dollars a year plus an 8,000 a year cost-of-living allowance without the benefit of a formal wage study.”
Iron County cited a lack of access to programs and services, and overuse of its police force, with Mark Stauber, Iron County Board Chair, highlighting concerns from residents and the sheriff’s department.
“I’ve got umpteen different notes here from residents that would like to have come to the meeting, but they didn’t want to be here because they’re having such a hard time getting their children into the programs that they felt it would be negative if they showed their faces that maybe they wouldn’t be able to get them in there,” he shared. “I have a list here from our sheriff’s department from the 1st of the year, 10 times that he had to go out of the area with 2 deputies, take them off of road patrol where they are much needed in our area,” he continued. Other Iron County board members called for more consistent financial reporting from Northpointe to the counties.
Menominee County echoed similar concerns, including high employee turnover, and instances of stalking and harassment of former employees and potential new board members, as expressed by Patricia Mueller, a Menominee County Commissioner.
“I believe, based on the whistleblowers’ protection act of 1980, that there have been instances of retaliation [and] intimidation directed at board members who dared to voice the concerns of the services provided by Northpointe. Such actions, if true, contravene the very essence of a transparent and constructive oversight environment,” Mueller shared.
´Secondly, I believe there have been attempts to censor Northpointe Behavioral staff, and members of the Board of Directors, limiting their ability to speak freely and advocate for necessary changes… Thirdly, I am concerned with what I believe is the continued stalking of former employees of Northpointe on social media platforms, including LinkedIn… Fourthly, I believe there has been stalking and harassment of potential new board members for Northpointe Board of Directors through various means, including telephone, in-person, and on social media.’
Larry Phelps, Menominee Chairman of the Board, is calling for more solutions to help address mental health issues as a border city. Phelps emphasized having mental health workers licensed in both states to remedy many of the issues their city faces.
Phelps stated, “To the chair of Iron County, he had mentioned a statement about law-enforcement. There was a board meeting in Menomonee County, the city of Menomonee, at Northpointe, and for the first time we saw law enforcement attend, and for those of you who have never spoken to law-enforcement, who have to deal with this, because we’re working on trying to get [things] resolved across the river, and we are a Twin City community, so you have boundary issues here. We believe it was at one time working on the other side of the river.”
The Northpointe Board Chair, Kevin Pirlot, had hoped for increased collaboration with the counties. He asks for re-appointment of all 4 positions up for re-appointment, despite recent contentions during Northpointe’s board meetings. During public comment, he pointed out that Northpointe receives about 95% of its funding from DHHS.
Pirlot stated, “Michigan has some problems with its mental health services as a state, it’s not a Northpointe issue on some of these things.”
‘We just need to sit down together and talk about these things together, and look at a path forward. The Northpointe board is responsible for making decisions that were talked about, and any of the things that we talked about tonight are nothing unique to Northpointe. It’s unique to Michigan, and those issues are discussed all over and there are a lot of misconceptions on what was discussed tonight,’ commented Pirlot.
Addressing the concern over $2.3 million in funding turned over to the state, he stated:
“The misconception on the excess funding that we returned to the state of Michigan. It was completely Medicaid money, and it can only be used on medicaid patients, and there’s no ifs ands, or buts about the way that money was handled. Retention bonuses were given to employees to retain those employees. It’s definitely a tough issue to retain employees in today’s employment market, especially in the type of jobs that we have.”
Pirlot declined to comment on the accusations of stalking and harassment to board members and employees.
Concerns about Northpointe include:
1. Distribution of employee bonuses, termed as retention and longevity payments, but seemingly favoring higher-paid administrators over lower-income frontline workers, with questionable transparency and consistency in the process.
2. CEO salary increase without a formal wage study, based on recommendations not fully substantiated by comparative analysis, and with the CEO gaining autonomy in administrative staff hiring.
3. Failure to comply with state law regarding public hearings on annual plans and requests for new funds, as well as concerns about adherence to the Open Meetings Act.
4. Deficiencies in service provision to private payers and crisis stabilization services, raising doubts about meeting state-mandated standards.
5. Delay in reestablishing an interagency agreement for health services to incarcerated individuals, resulting in unexpended funds and potential lapses in service provision.
6. Allegations of inappropriate dismissal and other actions by the CEO, Jennifer Cescolini, as reported by former employees.
7. Non-compliance with federal laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding disclosure of personal health information for board applicants.
8. Non-compliance with current meetings act regulations, reverting after the pandemic ended.
Overall, these concerns highlight potential issues with transparency, compliance, and fairness within Northpointe’s operations and governance.
While NO action was taken by any of the three counties during the meeting, counties will continue to discuss solutions in the coming meetings ahead, with possible investigations by the state attorney general, auditor general, and votes of ‘no confidence,’ put forth as action items in individual county meeting agendas.
Menominee County Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.
Dickinson County Board of Commissioners meets Monday at 6:00 p.m.
