The executive director of White Bird Clinic, Jeremy Gates, has left his role after more than two years.
The leadership change comes as the clinic has reported financial issues, and it follows the controversial closure of the Front Rooms program last year.
White Bird representatives didn’t immediately disclose Thursday whether Gates had quit or been asked to leave. KLCC was unable to reach Gates on Thursday.
[UPDATE: On Feb. 24, White Bird spokesperson Kelli Matthews released a statement which said that Gates' resignation was voluntary. "He was not terminated from his position nor asked to resign," said Matthews, who said Gates would remain with White Bird for the next three months to aid in the leadership transition.]
Now, Amée Markwardt has been named the clinic’s interim executive director. She's worked with White Bird for 18 years, and was most recently the clinic's program coordinator.
"After the board announced that I was taking on this role, I had such amazingly positive responses from staff," Markwardt told KLCC. "Having somebody who's been in the behavioral health field, somebody who's been a clinician, somebody who can understand what it's like to go through all the changes that White Bird has gone through."
Markwardt said staff are worried about potential loss of federal funding for White Bird under the new Trump administration. She said she plans to meet with on-the-ground workers to identify priorities.
"I'm going to be needing to look at what our budget looks like," said Markwardt, "and how we work together to be successful and to be around for another 55 years and longer for our clients and our community."
White Bird provides medical and social services, with a focus on the local homeless community. It also operates CAHOOTS, the mobile crisis intervention service.
In a press release Thursday, the Clinic said it will now "return to its roots, providing essential assistance to those who have been disenfranchised by traditional community based care."
