The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Agencies working toward mid-2018 merger
Two Lake County behavioral health agencies are in the midst of a merger, a process that began late last year.
In November, the board of directors for Crossroads and Beacon Health separately voted to merge the two agencies together.
The merger is expected to be completed in mid2018, Crossroads CEO Mike Matoney said. Matoney will be the CEO of the merged agency.
Though the merger was formalized in late 2017, talks had been ongoing.
About two years ago, Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board Executive Director Kim Fraser got the agencies together and encouraged them to “partner and look at synergies,” Matoney said.
Matoney noted that their missions come first, but acknowledged they’re “pretty
separate at the current time.”
Crossroads provides a “continuum of care for children, adolescents and
young adults who are experiencing emotional and behavioral changes.” Beacon Health “promotes wellness and enhances the lives of
adults with mental illness and substance abuse disorders to live, learn and participate fully in their family and community.”
Matoney said they have to meet their clients and families exactly where they’re at and integrate their behavioral health services.
“No longer can we say to our families and children who come to us, ‘You got issues? Come down to Beacon Health on Mentor Avenue. You’ve got issues with your son our daughter? Don’t worry, you go right down (Route) 20, head west on 20, get on (Route) 615, take a right and then go down 615 north, just past Mentor High School there’s a KeyBank there, turn right there on Munson Road, there’s Crossroads.”
Part of the rationale for the merger is the agencies are mission-focused and want to have a sustainable future, Matoney said. Changes in Medicaid via Behavioral Health Redesign in Ohio that started Jan. 1 were another impetus for the merger now.
“We also want to have greater impact and great outcomes for the families we’re serving,” he said. “We think the best way to have better outcomes is to have services to families as a whole.”
The merged organization will have one governing board, one CEO (Beacon Health Chief Executive Officer Spence Kline will serve as chief strategy officer), one senior management team and one set of bylaws.
A name for the merged agency has not yet been determined.
The organizations are also working on a new strategic plan. On March 7, various board members, staff, community stakeholders and other supporters gathered at Lakeland Community College’s Holden University Center in Kirtland to give input on the merged agency’s direction.
“Just say where you’re coming from, where you see the needs are in the community,” Matoney told the gathered group.
“Your perspective is what brought you here and we need that perspective as part of our strategic plan.”