Published: February 17, 2006 11:24 am            

Gannon Center closing

CLINTON — Following six months of publicly disclosed financial concerns, the board of directors for the Gannon Center for Community Mental Health has decided to close its facilities in Clinton, Jackson and Dubuque counties.

The decision was made public in a press release issued Thursday (see box). The final closure date has not been determined.

Lewis Todtz, chairman of the Clinton County Board of Supervisors and a Gannon Center board member, was in Des Moines on Wednesday and Thursday on county business and was therefore unable to attend the Wednesday meeting at which the ultimate decision was made.

However, he said the decision “has been something that has been coming for quite some time. The Gannon board has worked as diligently as possible to search for as many alternatives as possible. … Mental health providers are finding it more and more difficult to survive.”

Todtz said the county would try to find a way to provide services for mental health clients and said that could even include the creation of a new agency that would employ the same staff so clients would see a seamless transition.

Marcia Christiansen, who has been director of the Clinton center for about a year, said the 50 Clinton Gannon Center employees were notified Thursday. She also echoed Todtz’s comments and said Clinton office officials would be “working with the county to become an individual entity here in Clinton,” and she hopes “to do that without interruption.”

Christiansen acknowledged financial woes in the Dubuque office but said “Clinton is a viable office.” She also said her office does not operate under a block grant as has been printed in the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald but as a traditional fees-for-services agency. She said she had no insight into the future of Gannon operations in Jackson County.

Clinton County Attorney Mike Wolf also said the Clinton branch was running in the black.

“What I would expect to see then is something replacing it in the near future,” he said.

Wolf said there would be a big impact on mental health services in the county if the local office did not reopen.

“From the county perspective it’s the key, it’s been essential,” Wolf said. “It’s not an option. We need to have that service available.”

The Gannon Center is “by far the largest provider of mental health services” through Clinton County, Todtz said. In the current year the county has paid the Gannon Center about $900,000 for mental health services rendered. Locally, the center is based out of office space at Mercy South Hospital.

“We will continue to provide inpatient psychiatric services to patients in the Gateway area,” said Michelle Bradley, director of marketing and planning for Mercy. “The Gannon Center provides a vital service to our community and we are standing by their situation and hope there will be a positive resolution to the matters at hand.”

Clinton School District Superintendent Randy Clegg said the school system has two contracts with the local Gannon Center staff that amount to roughly $150,000 per year.

Clegg said Gannon staff provides the district case facilitator counseling services, with two counselors working through the at-risk program and two others paid for with a Counseling Demonstration Grant, a funding stream the district has used for two years.

Aside from direct counselor to student contact, the main role the Gannon Center has with the students it interacts with, Clegg said, is to help families get the services they need and to monitor the administration of those services. Furthermore, he said, many district students come from families who utilize the center beyond the school district’s connections.

The Clinton County Board of Supervisors turned down a request from the Gannon Center in November for a $147,000 advance to help the agency pay off a portion of the center’s debts for two months. In mid-November the Gannon board announced it was cutting staff in Dubuque by 10 percent.

On Oct. 31, Mary Lou Baal, Gannon Center CEO, told Clinton County officials the center had problems implementing a new software system, which ultimately delayed sending out bills for two months, causing a temporary budget shortfall. The Gannon Center’s solution was to bill the three counties it serves, Clinton, Jackson and Dubuque, for future services.

At the time of the board’s decision, Janice Mussmann, an employee of the Behavioral Health and Wellness Clinic in Clinton, told the supervisors she had real concerns regarding the legality of the prepayment to the Gannon Center.

“My concern is if we bail out the Gannon Center this time, then there will be another time and another time,” Mussmann said. “I believe they are in some financial trouble. … They have raised their rates and still don’t seem to be able to make it. My concerns are if they are in this sad state now, how would this money make any difference?”

Mussmann, who previously served as director of programming for the Gannon Center, said for years the Clinton office met its budget and built up an excess of funds.

“Those funds are depleted as far as I know,” Mussmann said. “At one time there was $700,000 that the Clinton office had made and it was in CDs. I do not know where that money is now because I don’t work for the Gannon Center any longer, but I know that it was dwindling down at a fast rate due to mismanagement in the Dubuque office.”

Supervisor Jill Davisson said the board’s decision did not reflect on the services provided by the Gannon Center.

“We don’t want to give the impression as a county board that we aren’t thankful for that because we are,” Davisson said.

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The announcement

The following press release was e-mailed to area media shortly after noon Thursday:

“After considerable review and careful consideration, the Gannon Center Board agreed at (its) meeting (Wednesday) night not to submit to (Dubuque) County a bid to provide outpatient and residential mental health services.

“In the best interest of the community the Gannon Center has decided to close operations at a date to be determined. A meeting was held early (Thursday) morning with representatives from the Finley Hospital, Hillcrest Family Services, Mercy (Medical Center) and Medical Associates to discuss our combined commitment to ensure continued provision of mental health services in this county. We will also be working Jackson and Clinton counties to facilitate transitions there as well.

“The Gannon Center is supportive of Hillcrest Family Services’ bid to the county and will work with them if they are indeed selected by the county to provide services. During the transition, the Finley Hospital has committed resources to help close out billing, transcription and medical records.

“It has been our pleasure to serve the Dubuque, Jackson County and Clinton County areas for 40 years.”

        

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