PENDLETON — At least 60 former Lifeways employees are joining Community Counseling Solutions when the county’s new mental health and substance abuse provider begins its contract this fall.

The new staff will be working for the Heppner-based provider by Dec. 1, when CCS’ contract with Umatilla County begins, according to Community Counseling Executive Director Kimberly Lindsay. Several other employees are on the fence but may end up working for CCS, Lindsay said, adding that the employees transferring over worked in outpatient behavioral health services.

That’s more than half the employees Lifeways has said would be laid off this fall, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification — or WARN — sent to the county board of commissioners and the Oregon Employment Department’s Dislocated Worker Unit on Aug. 13.

The WARN notice stated layoffs “may come in stages” between Oct. 13 and Nov. 30, adding “layoffs may be earlier or later in that time frame, again depending on the transition to the new provider.”

Lindsay said it’s unclear whether this means employees could be without work prior to joining CCS on Dec. 1. She said Lifeways officials previously told her employees in the county wouldn’t be laid off until Nov. 30.

“If I were an employee of Lifeways, and I knew I was going to be picked up by CCS Dec. 1, and I read that, I would wonder if I was going to be laid off work for six weeks or seven weeks,” she said.

When asked about the gap, Lifeways Chief Executive Officer Tim Hoekstra said in an email the provider planned to send the WARN notice in July, but “at that time CCS had not had substantive conversations with Lifeways employees in Umatilla County for the purpose of providing an intent for employment.”

He then added Lifeways sent the notice in mid-August “as we still did not have a comfortable level of confirmation that CCS had committed to a sufficient number of employees.”

“We are very pleased that CCS has responded positively to our recommendations to shore up staff through those letters of employment intent and accompany us at our facilities to conduct meet and greets,” he said.

The Ontario-based provider, officials have said, employed more than 120 people in the county, most of whom are county residents.

Hoekstra said Lifeways plans to retain some of its facilities, including Aspen Springs in Hermiston, McNary Place in Hermiston, and Westgate House in Pendleton.

“Lifeways continues to be invested in the well-being of the whole of Umatilla County,” he said.

As for Lifeways’ eight other facilities in Umatilla County, Lindsay said CCS will acquire some of them and will possibly lease some facilities owned by Lifeways.

However, Hoekstra said: “There are no specific plans for any of those building as of yet.”

Among those facilities is the old St. Anthony Medical Office Building in Pendleton and some of the surrounding land near 1601 S.E. Court Ave. Lifeways acquired that property in October 2019 for $1 million, according to news reports.

Lifeways, which served the county for more than 16 years, lost its contract in May when the county went out for a request for a proposal, seeking a new provider that would cover both mental health and substance abuse services. The county awarded that contract to CCS in late-May.