Center for Living Director gives 30-day notice after turbulent year
Dr. June Gower has tendered her resignation as Executive Director at Mid-Columbia Center for Living, a tri-county behavioral health clinic.
By Tom Peterson
The Director of the Mid-Columbia Center for Living behavior health clinic is stepping down from the position after less than two years that were marked by financial challenges, union organization and substantial loss of employees.
Dr. June Gower announced her resignation to employees in a letter dated Aug. 25.
“I wanted to share with you my announcement that I have resigned my position as the Executive Director and have given a 30-day notice,” she wrote.
Leadership at the Center for Living will be looking to an interim director in the short term, said Scott Hege, Wasco County Commissioner and Tri-County Mental Health Board member with oversight at The Center for living.
Wasco County Commissioner Scott Hege. He also sits on the Tri-County Mental Health Board which governs Mid-Columbia Center for Living.
“Generally, we’re thinking of looking for an interim person while we decide and figure on how we intend to move forward,” Hege said this morning, Aug. 31. “We expect Deputy Director Al Barton to step up into the interim spot initially, and then we’ll figure out if we go with a longer-term interim or not and then how to fill that position.”
Center for Living is a certified behavioral health clinic. It provides services for mental health, addictions, intellectual and developmental and crisis issues. it is a government-owned and operated agency with a board of directors made up of County Commissioners from Wasco, Sherman and Hood River counties.
In Gower’s Letter, she wrote “We have undergone some very stressful times together, financial hardship and a pandemic. This next year and programmatic funding will bring yet another wave of changes, which I’m sure you will all rise to the occasion to meet.”
Hege said the change in leadership presented an opportunity to rebuild staff at the agency as many have left in recent months.
“We look forward to good days ahead with staff and building a really strong team for those clients needing services.”
CCCNews reached out to Gower on Monday, Aug. 30, to get additional information about the resignation and transition to new leadership. We will report that information if it becomes available.
Hege said the loss of employees at The Center for Living has been “substantial,” but did not know the exact number.
He said financial and health challenges have led to employee resignations from health organizations around the state as well as nationally.
“It’s a challenging time for every business and organization in terms of employment,” he said.
At the same time, he said there were challenging relationships between Gower and Center for Living Employees that were unfortunate. “I am not sure if those employees are in a position to come back or want to come back,” he said.
Gower’s tenure has been marked with difficulty during the past year.
Mid-Columbia Center for Living handed back the Community Developmental Disabilities Program to the Oregon Department of Human Services due to funding after a 30-year run last summer under Gower’s direction. The move was met with pushback from clients as well as employees.
Employees also organized and formed a union under the direction of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
The relationship between leadership and the union was rough from the start.
Center for Living was found to have violated the law according to a ruling by the Oregon Employee Relations Board (ERB) last November. The ruling found the Center for Living had opposed efforts to unionize, sent out anti-union flyers using public funds and unilaterally modified working conditions without notifying and bargaining with the union.
And of this July, AFSCME union’s David Kreisman stated:
“After nearly eleven months bargaining their first contract, workers from Mid-Columbia Center For Living (MCCFL) continue to be met with obstructive behavior on the part of MCCFL’s contract negotiators. In November, after the Oregon Employee Relations Board (ERB) found MCCFL in violation of the law, MCCFL settled with Oregon AFSCME workers for upwards of $40,000 following illegal efforts to subvert union activities. With nearly 50% of the roughly 80 union-represented positions at MCCFL vacant and managers leaving in droves, MCCFL is in crisis.”
Union negotiators and a local case manager said they were hopeful with the change in leadership coming.
Union Council Representative Doug Ziemer
“I hope that it stops the mass resignations that have been going on,” said Dennis Ziemer, Council representative with Oregon AFSCME Union and employees for The Center for Living. “I have lost count. All the managers left. Many of the supervisors left, and a lot of the therapists have left. Those folks that do that kind of work are hard to come by - they went somewhere - I hope maybe some of them will come back.”
Caseworker agreed.
“After almost two years of uncertainty this gives us a ray of hope toward the future of the agency,” said Center for Living’s Intensive Case Manager Kristen Burke. “It is my sincerest hope with new leadership that we will once again be a transparent, trauma-informed and community-based agency.”
Hege was also optimistic.
“I look forward to working with our staff and clients and providing great services in building this team,” he said.
