Tough times for Tesh

COEUR d’ALENE — Arlita Dawes said her son has been a client of Tesh, Inc., for about three decades.

But, at least temporarily, he can no longer go there.

“You don’t just shut down with one day’s notice,” Dawes said Monday.

In an Aug. 5 letter, Tesh CEO Marcee Hartzell wrote that the nonprofit would be suspending its Pathways to Independence life skills and activity center of adult day health programs.

The move affects about 25 clients on a daily basis.

“While it is Tesh’s opinion that this service is one of the most important services offered, a critical shortage affecting many Developmental Disability Agencies (DDA) has forced us to make this hard decision,” she wrote. “While Tesh has every intention of bringing this service back in the future, we are not currently able to predict when workforce shortages will ease, and rates increase will allow us to pay staff a livable wage.”

Hartzell apologized for the short notice.

“Last week was a significantly hard week for staff and clients, with a skeleton crew we realized that our ability to adequately provide a safe, educational experience was in jeopardy. We made the decision Friday as a team to suspend operations of these two programs," she wrote.

Hartzell told The Press on Monday in a phone interview that some managers resigned and some employees left with them.

While Hartzell declined to say how many employees recently resigned, others told The Press it was around 15 to 20, with some of them longtime associates with decades of experience, some citing Hartzell's management style.

The situation turned heated Friday, three sources told The Press, when police were called to Tesh as some employees were clearing out their offices and leaving the Industrial Loop property. No arrests were made.

Hartzell said other programs, such as employment services, vocational center, janitorial crews and summer camp, remain up and running.

The Tesh facebook page says it has six job openings: Developmental specialist, adult community-based support staff; youth community-based support staff; administrative/billing assistant; janitorial supervisor and activity center supervisor.

Most start at $14 an hour. A development specialist’s estimated annual salary is $36,000 to $46,000.

Hartzell said they have been running short-staffed for some time.

“With these resignations, it put us in a tighter bind,” she said,

Tesh is "dedicated to providing child development, independent living, and employment choices and training to people of all ages with disabilities seeking greater independence, self-sufficiency, and participation in our community. We have served over 20,000 children and adults with disabilities since 1976," according to its website.

Hartzell came on board a little over two years ago. Then, Tesh had a budget of close to $2 million, served about 425 clients a year, and had a full- and part-time staff of about 65. COVID took a toll on client count and it has not fully recovered.

She said some of her efforts to improve efficiency and modernize operations required people to do things differently. How to do more with less, and having a healthy bottom line, were part of the discussion.

“That’s the nature of the ballgame,” she said.

But she said those proposed changes, which she said have not been implemented, were not popular and met with resistance.

She said some were also unhappy with her management style and met with the board to express their concerns.

“They don’t like my leadership,” Hartzell said.

The board supported Hartzell, which led some employees to give notice.

“It was their choice," Hartzell said.

“It’s unfortunate that staff chose personal alliances over business alliances,” she said.

Hartzell said financially, Tesh is doing well and its annual fundraiser, "Reach for the Stars" on July 27 at Settlers Creek, raised about $140,000.

“Community support is strong,” she said.

Hartzell said despite having given three small raises since she was hired as CEO, Tesh staff members are “some of the lowest paid staff in the state.

Many had heavy caseloads and were paid about $13 an hour, Hartzell said

“It’s most likely that has contributed to the level of their stress," she said.

Hartzell said while the past few weeks have been difficult, she will continue to lead Tesh and do what she believes is best for the organization and its clients.

“If it means we change some employees, that is what we do,” she said.

Karen Grove said she was one of four Pathway to Independence employees who left Friday.

She said she had been with Tesh 19 years, enjoyed her work and loved her clients.

Grove said her pay wasn't an issue.

“If it was the money, I would go to McDonald’s,” she said.

Grove said employees who recently quit just wanted to be left alone to do their jobs as best they could.

“We don't need bigger and better,” she said.

Terry Johnson, who had been with Tesh 24 years and was its vice president, gave her notice July 10 after a “particularly rough meeting.”

She said staff resigning was about treatment and leadership.

“My reason for leaving had everything to do with management style,” she said.

Johnson described Hartzell's management style as "corporate and blunt."

"It can create hostility," she said.

At one point, Johnson said that some employees gave an ultimatum to the board: Hartzell goes as CEO and Johnson replaces her, or they would resign. The board stuck by Hartzell.

Johnson said she was grateful for her time at Tesh. She said she was looking “to move past the anger and frustration” that led to her resignation and open her own DDA.

She said if she finds a location and arranges financing, it could open later this year.

“With a lot of help we're going to get this off the ground,” she said.

Ginger Cota said her son has been a Tesh client for nearly 30 years. She said before the recent surge of employees quitting, it had been “perfect” and her son loved it.

“I never had a complaint,” she said.

Cota said while her son can no longer go there for the adult activities three days a week, he will be able to attend the vocation center.

Cota said the situation and suspension of some operations is disappointing because she and her son have been part of Tesh for so long.

“I feel like I was not included on all of the decisions that were made,” she said. “They affected my son, so that’s why I’m in there fighting.”

She hopes Tesh hires more staff soon so its clients, each with individual needs and differences, can return to their routines.

“All these young men and women are affected by this,” she said.

Dawes was concerned how the suspension of operations might affect funding.

Tesh is licensed by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which could not be reached for comment.

Dawes said without Tesh, she is not sure what her son will do and is looking at alternatives for him.

“They are not paying their people correctly for the care and help they are asked to give,” she said.

Hartzell wrote that the need for increased reimbursement rates paired with their current employment situation was creating a workforce crisis in the disabled community.

“Agencies cannot afford to hire quality caregivers that would compete with even the likes of fast-food services,” she wrote. “Tesh has been forced to decide whether we will stop providing services or hire workers who do not meet our standards of quality care to fill participant hours. While temporarily terminating services is a painful decision for all of us, we are unwilling to potentially jeopardize our participants by placing them with workers who cannot meet Tesh’s quality care standards.”

She wrote that staffing shortages were a companywide problem and she was in the process of obtaining wage data statewide with hopes of increasing wages to hire new staff and keep the ones they have.

Hartzell said she has reached out to Lewis-Clark State College, North Idaho College and the University of Idaho — Coeur d’Alene in hopes of attracting interns, is advertising and hired an outside agency.

“Tesh is a vital part of our community and having to make this decision has been difficult. We are also very aware that you rely on us for services,” Hartzell wrote. “It is our hope that our participants will be able to utilize natural supports to assist with meeting their needs during this suspension of services."