Meeting Details: Regular monthly meeting, February 15, 2023 at 6:00 pm at the Board offices located at 13244 Ravenna Rd., Chardon, OH 44024. In person only, no recording.
Who attended: Chair Steve Oluic, Vice Chair Linda Miller, Secretary Alberta Chokshi, Treasurer Michael Petruziello, and board members Ann Bagley (arrived a few minutes late), Marty Fay, Jimmy Lee Holden, Kathy Johnson, Greg O’Brien and Mary Ruth Shumway.
Not attending: Walter Claypool, Carolee Lesyk, Jennifer Malainy and Ryan Mekota.
Staff members attending: Interim Executive Director Leila Vidmar, Secretary/Receptionist Teresa Slater and incoming Executive Director Christine Lakomiak. Finance Director Jim Mausser was absent due to illness. Observer Comment: Associate Director Amiee Martin-D’Arienzo submitted her resignation on January 23, 2023.
Guests: Representatives from eight service providers including Ravenwood Health, Lake-Geauga Recovery Center, NAMI, Family Pride, Signature Health, Catholic Charities, Torchlight VMA and WomenSafe, reporters from local media and this Observer.
Call to Order, Roll Call and Pledge of Allegiance occurred as listed on the Agenda.
Minutes from the January 18, 2023 meeting were approved, with Linda Miller abstaining.
Chairman’s Report - Board Chair Steve Oluic offered the following remarks:
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Mr. Oluic stated that it was a good day for their board and for Geauga County. He proceeded to introduce Christine Lakomiak as the new Executive Director. Ms. Lakomiak was recommended by the Selection Committee, whose members included Chokshi, Johnson, Miller, Oluic and Petruziello.
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Mr. Oluic explained that 20 applications were received, 9 were deemed worth consideration and 3 were granted interviews. Ultimately, Ms. Lakomiak accepted the offer that was extended on Feb 10. Formal appointment by the full board will be considered via resolution later in the agenda.
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Mr. Oluic shared that Jennifer Malainey recently resigned from the board. Observer Comment: Mrs. Malainy, whose term ends June 30, 2023, resigned effective February 8, 2023. Her resignation was accepted by the Board of County Commissioners during their February 14, 2023 meeting. No interim appointment was made at that time and Commissioner Dvorak requested that the opening be advertised online. BOCC has appointment power over three board positions that expire on June 30, 2023, including those of Mr. Oluic, Mr. Claypool and the now open seat.
Ms. Lakomiak commented that this is her passion and thanked the board for the opportunity. She shared that she has 16 years of experience with the Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services agency, most recently serving as Director of Quality and Clinical Services. She also has experience advocating for the homeless.
Interim Executive Director Report - Ms. Vidmar reported:
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She will stay on longer than originally planned to aid in the transition.
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She continues to focus on cross training their small staff.
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She has been covering Associate Director duties, including client’s rights issues, working with providers to complete a project matrix, and working on a request for proposal (RFP).
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She worked with providers to prepare the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Training resolution for the board’s consideration later in the agenda.
Committee Reports
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Agency Relations - Mrs. Johnson reported that she and Mrs. Miller will soon begin meeting with providers. She attended a meeting of the “Faith Coalition” on Feb 11. This group will begin meeting regularly on the first Monday of each month at 5:30 PM. The March 6 meeting will be held at the MHRS offices and future meetings will be held at the Geauga County Administrative Office Building. Observer Comment: We were unable to find an organization operating in Geauga County under this name but believe Mrs. Johnson is referring to a group that is scheduled to hold a June 3rd event at the Geauga County Fairgrounds. From our January 18, 2023 Observer Report, “This is a crowd-funded Coalition with 88 churches. There will be invitations to Agencies to attend to talk about resources available in the community. There is also a Faith-Based Youth Coalition which is meeting at Berkshire High School.”
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Finance - Mr. Petruziello reported the committee met that day and discussed upgrading audit processes with Ravenwood Health.
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Planning and Policies - Ms. Chokshi reported the committee met recently to begin a review of the policy manual. A concern was raised about the lack of a “work at home” policy. Ms. Bagley added the group was having difficulty agreeing how to proceed with the review. Observer Comment: see Feb 13 Geauga Maple Leaf story that covers the difficulty referenced by Ms. Bagley.
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Capital Planning - no report
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Opiate HUB - no report
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Executive Director selection - covered by the Chairman’s Report
Board Review and Action Items
APPROVED by unanimous roll-call vote, Resolution 23-02-1 Permanent Supportive Housing Program Grant Award. Mr. Petruziello requested that language be corrected to exclude references to a CEO. Award amount $26,000.
APPROVED by unanimous roll-call vote, Resolution 23-02-2 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Training; $5,600 Funding Request from Ravenwood Health to train four clinicians.
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Extensive comments - all positive - were offered by both board members and providers about the value of this treatment option.
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Mr. O’Brien expressed concern about investing in this training only to have clinician’s leave. Ms. Clark indicated employees who leave within two years are required to repay the cost of the training.
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Mr. Petruziello inquired how outcomes would be measured and a provider stated length of stay and length of therapy would be the best indicators of efficacy.
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Mrs. Miller offered an amendment to increase the request to $11,200 in order to train eight Ravenwood clinicians. After discussion, this amendment was approved unanimously by roll call vote and other providers were encouraged to submit similar requests for EMDR training.
APPROVED by unanimous roll-call vote - Resolution 23-02-3 appointing Christine Lakomiak as Executive Director, with a start date of March 13, 2023. Salary details were not provided.
Financial Reports - in Mr. Mauser’s absence, Mr. Oluic reported they are financially on track and encouraged the board to take advantage of Governor DeWine’s stated commitment to fund mental health services.
Discussion Items - Presentation by Ravenwood Health Executive Director Vicki Clark
Ms. Clark discussed operating challenges, presenting concerns about stagnant Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates and staff retention issues caused by low staff salaries relative to competing providers. To manage, they have increased productivity, lowered expenses, diversified revenue streams and partnered with aligned organizations. She is very concerned about retention, commenting, “we lost somebody to Aldi’s.”
Other providers weighed in with concerns about competing with online mental health care providers and having additional burdensome reporting requirements that private providers do not face.
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Ms. Bagley commented it might be possible for county providers to offer education incentives in exchange for employee service agreements.
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Mr. Oluic assured providers that the board will explore options for assisting the providers and indicated they have surveyed other counties to see how they are addressing the problem.
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Mr. O’Brien acknowledged they cannot completely bridge the gap between government and private providers but he would like to see the board help providers attract and retain employees. He also would like to examine the current reporting requirements to potentially eliminate “busy work.”
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Mr. Petruziello commented that legislators need to be engaged, as they are the ones imposing reporting requirements.
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WomenSafe Executive Director Andrea Gutka commented that since 2015, three bigger businesses have approached WomenSafe to take them over.
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Mr. Petruziello commented, “sometimes you have to change your business model.” He requested the name of the competing companies.
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Ms. Clark indicated she would get those names for Mr. Petruziello. She then further described what is happening as an effort by private entities to create for-profit Community Health Centers.
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Ms. Gutka noted “all of the challenges that we’re talking about make us prime pickings, because we can’t compete.”
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Mr. Petruziello said the board needs to look at the county services collectively and consider new approaches to make them more competitive.
Ms. Lacomiak suggested meeting with agency directors to brainstorm and develop recommendations to present to the board for action.
Old Business - none
New Business - none
Public Comments - public comments are included on the agenda and Mr. Oluic solicited comments. None were offered. He went on to welcome Titan, a therapy dog accompanying NAMI Director Kimberly Carter. Ms. Carter took the opportunity to also introduce Kevin Liptrap, NAMI Geauga’s new Director of Programs/Outreach Development.
Adjournment - at about 7:15 PM
Board Minutes: https://www.geauga.org/board-minutes/
Next meeting: The next Board meeting was not announced but it should be on March 15, 2023 (third Wednesday) at 6:00 pm with no virtual option.
More Information: https://www.geauga.org/
Observer: Shelly Lewis
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewer: Gail Roussey
Submitted February 16, 2023
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