This commentary is by Bob Bick. He has served Howard Center for over 30 years, including the past decade as CEO.
With my retirement from Howard Center just days away, I should be daydreaming about bike rides and dog walks, but instead find myself thinking about what the future will hold for the agency. Years of trying to anticipate and prepare for the next organizational challenge will be a hard habit to break, but I’ll have time for that.
Today I’m thinking about how important the next few years will be in Howard Center’s history as the agency adjusts to the realities of persistent staffing challenges, the imposition of new financing models and the continued insufficiency of funding juxtaposed with what sometimes feels like an ever-increasing need for mental health, substance use and developmental disability services in the community. There have always been limits to our resources, but the growing imbalance between community needs and the funding Howard Center receives to meet them will force difficult choices and, ultimately, a rebalancing.
I have absolute confidence in Sandy McGuire, Howard Center’s next CEO, and in the leadership team, staff and board of trustees around her to make the best possible choices. Howard Center is in very good hands, and as an organization that has been adapting and evolving for nearly 160 years, meeting challenges is in its DNA.
I’m reminded of 2001 when Howard Center set out to open Vermont’s first methadone clinic. Public understanding about opioid use disorder and the need for treatment and timely access was much less understood than it is today, and it was a struggle to bring some around to the view that a clinic would be a positive additional community resource. Ultimately, Howard Center successfully opened the Chittenden Clinic where at any given time as many as 1,000 Vermonters are receiving the treatment they need for their substance use challenges.
An even bigger challenge was the pandemic and all the complications it brought for an organization that provides in-person care to so many. New mechanisms for services, the rapid adoption of new technologies and strategies, that often changed from day to day as guidance from state and federal health officials evolved, for protecting the health of our staff and clients were rapidly put in place. Programs adjusted and staff adapted, worked together to juggle responsibilities and cover shifts for vacancies and coworkers recovering from infections. While I am still astonished at how quickly and completely the agency acted, I am not surprised how compassionately and generously our staff stepped up.
Howard Center has no shortage of challenges ahead and the size and shape of the agency will undoubtedly change as it always has depending on emerging needs and available resources. With the support of the community, our partnerships with other providers and our funders, a caring and capable staff and strong leadership, it will surely continue to thrive.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Bob Bick: Howard Center will continue to adapt and thrive.