MENOMINEE — The Menominee County Board of Commissioners passed a unanimous resolution on Tuesday, which was a vote of no confidence in Northpointe Behavioral Healthcare System’s CEO, Jennifer Cescolini.
They also unanimously passed a resolution asking Northpointe to submit a corrective action plan to Menominee County. All board members were present at the meeting.
“The Menominee County Board of Commissioners is frustrated with Jennifer Cescolini’s lack of communication in addressing issues of importance in Menominee County,” said Larry Phelps, county board chair, in the resolution.
They said they’ve lost trust in Cescolini’s ability and desire to work with Menominee County to address changes needed to provide quality mental health care. They also said that she is no longer advocating in the best interests of the residents of Menominee County. They’re calling on Northpointe to take immediate action.
Steven Gromala, county commissioner, said six years have gone by since he’s tried to establish a connection between law enforcement and Northpointe.
“I asked if Northpointe would be willing to work with our board to find a solution, and the response from the CEO was a one-syllable one: ‘no’,” Gromala said.
He said she faced obstacles when becoming CEO and he commended her, even.
“At the same time, on some issues presented by members of this Menominee County Boardd, she refused to work with us,” Gromala said.
He said that at a joint meeting of the counties, they were handed a resolution from March 7 that Northpointe was now asking to work with Menominee County in providing services for residents brought to Aurora Medical Center — Bay Area — something the CEO had denied for years.
“The resolution is, in my opinion, too little, too late,” Gromala said. “I personally have to say to this solution a one syllable: ‘yes.’”
Phelps said that Iron, Dickinson and Menominee counties met March 19 to discuss concerns regarding Northpointe’s compliance with the Michigan Mental Health Code, Michigan Freedom of Information Act, Michigan Open Meetings Act, Americans With Disabilities Act and illegal or prohibited employment practices.
The counties will prepare concerns and corrective actions to correct the concerns.
“The funds allocated to the Northpointe Behavioral Healthcare System by Menominee County will be placed in escrow with the Menominee County Treasurer until the corrective action plan is approved by the counties,” Phelps said.
Millie Hofer, a member of the Northpointe Board of Directors, thanked the board for her ongoing appointment.
“I’ve been on the board for a long time, and what the board needs is several mental health employees who think in the same direction, and that is when change occurs,” Hofer said. “Mental health mostly becomes talked about when a mentally ill person commits a devastating act — we need mental health leaders who move mental health services forward.”
Mark Palmquist, a Menominee resident and retired patient advocate for Veteran’s Affairs, said Northpointe’s website wasn’t as transparent as he would’ve liked it to be. He offered solutions for Northpointe moving forward.
“Show me the data — show me how and where the patients are getting care,” Palmquist said.
He read a few negative reviews of Northpointe at the meeting. He said that most mental health providers will have bad reviews from patients retaliating or having bad experiences. The way to combat those reviews is with sound data.
“That’s how policies get changed, is with data,” Palmquist said.
Diedra Hinds-Springstroh, a provider at Northpointe, spoke up over Zoom at the meeting, saying she works in all three counties, especially Menominee.
“I have a very different viewpoint than all those opinions that were just read off,” Hinds-Springstroh said. “For every one of those negative comments, there are dozens of people that have positive, wonderful experiences.”
Patients typically speak highly of Northpointe across the counties, she said. She was confused by the negativity.
“I feel like Menominee County, in general, is kind of negative, just in general,” Hinds-Springstroh.
She invited people to attend the town halls, get to know the staff at Northpointe and take negative comments with a grain of salt.
“As it is well known, individuals who are miserable and unhappy are typically the loudest,” Hinds-Springstroh said.
Rodney Hollar, from Menominee, said he received care from Northpointe.
“I’m a recovering alcoholic, and I went to get help when I needed it the most,” Hollar said. “I was told that without my family being there, they couldn’t do nothing for me, and basically shoved me out the door.”
He said after he got sober, he realized the community needed more mental health help. He’s been trying to take matters into his own hands with a veteran’s community garden to help people struggling in the area.
Patricia Mueller, county commissioner and member of the Northpointe board, thanked Hollar.
“We are all here to help you and this is a step forward in the right direction,” Mueller said. “We are not going to leave you behind we will continue to advocate for you. We hope you’ll continue to support us.”
Phelps praised Mueller for bringing inadequacies to the forefront.
“A lot of this started with my appointment to commissioner Mueller to the Northpointe board,” Phelps said. “Mrs. Mueller has been very influential in bringing out some of the inadequacies that we see on behalf of Northpointe not addressing issues that need to be addressed.”
He said the vote of no confidence is focused on the practices of the CEO.
“We’re not here by any means to attack frontline workers. Frontline workers are not aware behind the scenes of what happens with administration,” Phelps said.
Jason Carviou, county administrator, reiterated Phelps’ comments after the meeting.
“The primary concern is the border issue with Northpointe providing crisis services at [Aurora Medical Center] Bay Area,” Carviou said. “Since that issue has been on our radar, there’s been a complete lack of communication between Northpointe and county board.”
The vote is more of a statement — the county does not have control over what happens.
“We need to fix the communication between Northpointe and the county board and get back on the same page,” Carviou said.
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