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County board welcomes new Northern Lakes CMH CEO; requests financial update
Summary
Grand Traverse County commissioners heard from Linda Zeller, the new CEO of Northern Lakes Community Mental health, who described recent cash-flow stabilization and committed to provide fiscal and programmatic reports to the board in February and fuller FY2025 data in March.
Linda Zeller, the new chief executive of Northern Lakes Community Mental Health, introduced herself to the Grand Traverse County Board on Jan. 7 and asked for cooperative oversight as she begins a multi-county effort to stabilize services and rebuild the agency's finances.
"Right now, we are really driven by entitlements ... Our flexible funding, our general fund is a total of $3,000,000. Last year, we expended $6,000,000," Zeller told commissioners, describing two years of declining cash and steps taken by prior interim leadership that she said leveled the immediate crisis in July. She told the board she is emphasizing transparency, communication and updated performance measures as the agency retools internal systems to get quicker access to services.
Why it matters: Northern Lakes serves multiple counties and provides behavioral-health services that intersect with local justice and emergency services. Commissioners asked for a clear account of what services were reduced during the recent belt-tightening and what will be restored as the organization recovers.
Commissioner Andrews said the board had previously sought a report on a previously reported $7–$9 million deficit and pressed for specifics about services lost or reduced. Zeller acknowledged there had been staff reductions—"about 17 positions that were eliminated"—and program-level adjustments; she said she did not have every figure at the podium but agreed to supply the requested materials.
Zeller offered a timetable: she said she could provide early, targeted information to the board in February, and that finalized financial status reports for fiscal year 2025 would be available in early March after the year-end close. She also said routine EQI/KPI reports would be updated and that she would distribute those to county administrators.
The board did not take formal action on Northern Lakes at the meeting; commissioners thanked Zeller for attending and for agreeing to follow up with the requested materials.
Ending: Zeller told the board she intended to meet county administrators and board chairs across the service area to coordinate rebuilding; she said the February and March reports would start a broader conversation about priorities and potential short-term service trade-offs.
