The treatment manager for the opioid treatment program at the Zepf Center has been offered the executive
director position of the Wood County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board.
At Thursday’s special meeting, the board voted unanimously to offer Deanna Stanton the position, which
has been vacant since this winter when Tom Clemons retired.
“I would like to thank the ad hoc committee for their diligence and hard work,” said Doug Cubberley,
board chair, after the vote. “I’m proud of the work we did. I know it’s been maybe a longer journey than
we expected.”
The motion allows Cubberley to negotiate salary and a start time with Stanton. The pay range for the
position is $90,000-$120,000 annually.
In a followup conversation on Thursday night, Cubberley said that Stanton accepted the position and
negotiations would follow.
According to Stanton’s resume, she’s been in her current position with the Zepf Center since 2017.
Previously, she was treatment manager for Substance Use Disorders with the Zepf Center, from 2014-17.
She has also been a program manager, from 2008-13, with Behavioral Connections of Wood County.
Stanton has her master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, both
from Bowling Green State University.
The final three candidates were all very qualified, Cubberley said after the meeting, but Stanton stood
out.
“She just had intimate knowledge of Wood County. She spent a lot of time working in Wood County,” he
said. “She had the leadership skills and the clinical skills that are important.”
Stanton said she has been in Bowling Green since 1988 when she came to attend college.
As executive director, she won’t be in the trenches anymore, providing care, but her experience will
greatly help in the new job, she said.
“I won’t be providing direct care and services, but I’ll be able to take all the different experience
I’ve had and help each agency grow and develop their programming,” Stanton said in a phone interview
Thursday evening.
She said she’s especially excited to work with the new crisis response team, which is something she
previously did.
“I really think I can bring a lot of experience to help them grow,” Stanton said.
A challenge in the new job will be “being out of the trenches, meeting and plan development, and getting
to know all of the leaders and plan developers — the best way to support and hold accountable.”
Stanton and her husband, Dan, have two daughters, ages 8 and 6, and five pets, and live in Bowling Green.

Stanton is the second person to be offered the ADAMHS Board executive director position. The board
started a search in February after Clemons announced his March retirement.
The board had voted in May to offer the job to Lindsay Ash Watson, the senior director of Horizon Health
at the University of Toledo Medical Center. She declined the offer, saying she was dismayed to see her
resume in the newspaper, before she had accepted the position.
Chris Streidl, manager of clinical programs and quality improvement for the ADAMHS Board, had been a
finalist for the job, along with Ash Watson.
At a special meeting in June, the board voted unanimously to reopen the search for a director.
The board received 61 resumes; 16 were qualified under the required statutes. The board used the Ohio
Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities to conduct the search.
The ad hoc committee narrowed the field to three in August and announced a chance to meet the candidates
earlier this week.
“I don’t think anybody expected the process to go this long, but it’s not a race. It’s getting the right
people in place,” Cubberley said.
Board member Stan Korducki thanked Cubberley for his leadership.
“It has been a lot of work and I appreciate again the ongoing efforts of the staff and their patience,”
he said.