Coos County approves wage adjustments for Coos Health & Wellness behavioral health staff

The Coos County Board of Commissioners voted to approve wage adjustments and sign a letter of agreement with AFSCME for Coos Health & Wellness on a motion that passed unanimously. The resolution updates pay grades for clinical behavioral-health positions and is effective March 1, 2025.

County and health officials told the board the increases are intended to address an acute recruitment and retention problem. "We are currently down about 10 behavioral health staff," Mike Rowley, director of Coos Health & Wellness, said during the meeting. David Gills, behavioral health director at Coos Health & Wellness, described the vacancies as concentrated in master’s-level clinical positions and said market shifts have made the county noncompetitive for those roles.

The board's motion, as stated at the meeting, was: "Move to approve and sign resolution 20 five-two-three-zero P and 20502032P updating pay grades as requested above and as outlined in appendix A, effective 03/01/2025." A second was entered and the motion carried with recorded voice votes of "aye." No commissioner recorded a roll-call list of names; the chair announced the motion approved.

Officials said each unfilled clinical position generates roughly $200,000 in service revenue annually and that filling vacancies would likely yield a positive net revenue impact after payroll costs. "Each of these positions generates around $200,000 in revenue per year," Gills said. He and Rowley told commissioners that, on average, a newly hired clinician could take about six months before the position breaks even for the agency.

Staff emphasized that the increases are limited to direct-care positions and are not general cost-of-living raises for administrative county employees. County staff also said the pay adjustments should not affect the county general fund.

Commissioners discussed whether to wait and address the changes during the regular budget cycle; proponents said immediate action was needed because the staffing shortage is causing service gaps and increased use of costlier contracted labor. Opponents urged caution to maintain equity across county departments, noting other county employees might expect similar midyear adjustments.

The board approved the resolution and the letter of agreement with AFSCME. The county recorded the motion as approved and indicated the effective date for the pay-grade changes as March 1, 2025.

The county will implement the pay changes per the appendix cited in the resolution and proceed with AFSCME contract administration as described by staff. Commissioners asked staff to return data on hiring and retention impacts after the changes take effect.

(For clarity: the resolution and appendix numbers were read into the record as cited above; the transcript did not list a roll-call vote-by-name.)