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Micromanaging at Northpointe

According to a Daily News article that cited minutes from the June meeting, the Northpointe Healthcare System Board of Directors voted 9-3 to give a 60-day notice to CEO Jennifer McCarty that her contract will not be renewed. McCarty was promoted to CEO in October 2015 after previously serving as the agency’s Menominee County director. Northpointe is the community mental health center for Dickinson, Menominee and Iron counties.

The fact is Northpointe is not the same as the other four CMH centers above the bridge under Northcare Network. The others are Pathways, Hiawatha, Gogebic and Copper Country. When Northpointe was part of five and Karen Thekan was CEO and all of the Northpointe Board of Directors worked together under the one meeting a month with committees handling problems and reporting to the Board at the meeting. Northpointe’s present problems started in 2015, when the Menominee and Dickinson County Commissioners –Iron County Commissioners were not involved at that time — decided to split from the other four above the bridge and operate Northpointe like the counties operate, with the two meetings a month. This action resulted in the resignation of CEO Thekan and board members Karen Rather, Peggy Connors, William DeDie, Peggy Freeman, and Christine Spence. Iron County does not have a commissioner on the board at this time and none of the Iron County Commissioners desire to be on this board. They, along with myself, do not want to micro-manage. We want to be policymakers and have management run Northpointe like the other four above the bridge.

It will be next to impossible to find a CEO that can come close to handling the job with all the micro-managing McCarty was put through. I would appeal to the Iron County public and commissioners to help change Northpointe back to what it was.

Keep in mind Northpointe and all mental health issues above the bridge can only be solved by those below the bridge. The mental health laws are very specific on the handling of all issues by CMH Boards and CMH management. It is necessary to go downstate to find the answers.

Northpointe is suffering the loss of Medicaid dollars and has used general fund dollars to cover consumers with mental issues and no way to pay. It is necessary for the board to take all action needed, immediately, to save our general fund dollars.

The public should be made aware of what is happening through all media in Dickinson, Menominee, Iron and Delta counties with all of the mental and physical issues.

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