Oregon's top mental health provider ignored signs of own crisis
Source: ARTHUR GREGG SULZBERGER, The Oregonian, Thursday, July 10, 2008
The books were a mess. Staff shifted money around day to day just to keep clinics running and employees paid. The company was hemorrhaging cash and had maxed out its line of credit.
Less than two days into his new job as chief financial officer, Scott Dickison concluded that Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Oregon's biggest provider of mental health services, was on the brink of collapse. He quit before his first week was up.
........ Risky financial practices and little government oversight had put Cascadia on the edge of bankruptcy for years, an investigation by The Oregonian found.
........ Multnomah County managers, who had entrusted 80 percent of their mental health services to Cascadia, helped prop up the company by rubber-stamping its requests and downplaying escalating problems, at times actively suppressing staff warnings.