Vicki Clark, retiring president and CEO of Ravenwood Health, and Paul Bolino, her successor, recently visited the Geauga County commissioners to discuss the county’s largest behavioral health agency, which fully merged with an Ashtabula County agency this past Monday.
Prior to the merger, Ravenwood had about 250 employees and served about 4,000 clients a year.
One of its programs is running the GeaugaYouthCenter with the Department of Job and Family Services (JFS). The commissioners own the youth center.
“About two years ago, I started looking at retirement,” Ms. Clark said. “As part of that process, Ravenwood, their board members, did a succession planning process, and in that we started with looking at who would make the most sense. What kind of characteristics would we really want in the next leader?”
Ravenwood had worked with Community Counseling Center of Ashtabula County over the last 10-12 years on a number of different projects, she said.
“We really came to feel like we were sister agencies,” she said. “We ran a lot of the same programs and had some complementary programs. We share a lot of the same clients.
“So two years ago when we did that succession planning process and really looked at the characteristics we wanted in our next leader, we felt that the director, the CEO of Community Counseling really fit that well, and that is Paul Bolino,” she went on. “As we move forward, we had been talking after all these years of working closely together that we’re two small- to medium-sized agencies, and it really made sense for a lot of reasons to someday look at a merger.”
“Excited to be here in GeaugaCounty as we spread Ravenwood Health across AshtabulaCounty and Northeast Ohio,” Mr. Bolino said, “and excited to meet all the stakeholders in GeaugaCounty and look forward to working relationships with all of you.”
CommunityCounselingCenter serves about 4,500 clients a year, so he expects the combined agency will serve well over 8,000 clients, he said.
“We’ll be bringing 120 employees into Ravenwood Health’s paying system next week, so we’ll be approximately 370 employees, approaching 400, with an annual budget of about $32 million,” he said.
Ms. Clark, whose official last day has passed, said she will stay around to consult to some degree, but she looks forward to sunshine and beaches and hanging with her grandson.
Commissioners Jim Dvorak, Carolyn Brakey and Ralph Spidalieri unanimously passed a resolution in her honor.
She started her career with RavenwoodMentalHealthCenter in 1986 as the director of the sex abuse treatment program. She would hold other leadership roles and was promoted in 1989 to chief operating officer.
“In October 2013, Vicki Clark was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Ravenwood Mental Health Center, where she brought over 30 years of experience providing mental health and addiction services from a consumer perspective, with best practices that laid a framework to promote recovery and resiliency,” according to the commissioners’ resolution. “During her tenure, she expanded the organization’s scope and impact, increasing annual revenue from approximately $6 million with 100 employees providing 25 programs to more than $20 million annually, with 257 employees providing 38 programs.”
Under her leadership, Ravenwood grew significantly, including the recent merger.
“I am truly blessed to work in this field, especially in GeaugaCounty,” Ms. Clark said after the meeting. “The people here are so supportive of mental health and addiction services. The various agencies and teams always put our clients’ needs first and strive for the best possible outcomes. Thank you to the Geauga community for their support.”