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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2013
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Hospital will transition 10 jobs in Jan. BY EMILY THORNTON The World
By Lou Sennick, The World
Girl Scout Emily Adams was in charge of putting celery into the food baskets being distributed by the Knights of Columbus Sunday afternoon. Adams and a few other scouts from Troop 30407 in North Bend helped out with the food boxes distributed from the Oregon Army National Guard Armory in Coos Bay.
A region of caring Giving spirit shows in the Bay Area, especially in tough economic times BY TIM NOVOTNY
COOS BAY — Up to 10 transcriptionists at Bay Area Hospital could lose their jobs Jan. 17 if they don’t join an outsourcing company or take other positions in the hospital, officials said. The hospital will save money with this move, said Suzie McDaniel, chief human resources officer. She also said Bay Area was one of the few that hadn’t switched to an outside company for transcriptioning. “We’re really trying to make the moves as painless as possible,” she said. The hospital decided last week to use SoftScript: Medical Transcription Service instead of its in-house transcriptionists, McDaniel said. The hospital was going to inform workers of the changes after the holidays, but leaders of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents the transcriptionists, asked for the earlier announcement. They will have the option to either join the company or take another position within the hospi-
tal, McDaniel said. She said three employees will move to other jobs in the hospital, two chose to retire and five had job offers from SoftScript. She also said the hospital would provide each transferring employee the computer and transcription equipment necessary for the transition. Mike Marshall, director of collective bargaining for the local UFCW 555, said the union would inform them of their options. “Unfortunately, the hospital has the authority (to hire an outside source),” he said. He also said they’d likely receive “substantially less pay and benefits” under the new company. Transcriptionists are paid hourly by the hospital, McDaniel said. The transcription company pays by line of transcription produced, she said. The exact numbers were unknown, but Marshall said they’d get about 6.5 cents per line and possibly could earn more, depending on the number of lines they transcribed and how long they’d been with the company. McDaniel said the hospital is SEE HOSPITAL | A8
The World
OCF’s Giving in Oregon project has documented charitable giving in Oregon for more than a decade. It analyzes the donations to over 10,000 Oregon nonprofit organizations. Highlights of this year’s report, looking at 2011’s numbers, include proof that individual giving by Oregonians is showing signs of recovery from the recession, that Oregon continues to rank in the top 20 states for charitable giving and that the state’s nonprofits received more than $1.6 billion in charitable donations in 2011-up from just under $1.5 billion in 2010. The numbers at one local nonprofit reflect the general statewide vibe. Contributions to the United Way of Southwestern Oregon, while not back up to prerecession levels, are starting to bounce back. “People, by and large, give real well here,” SEE CARING | A8
Feds: State needs better coastal pollution controls
INSIDE
GRANTS PASS — Federal regulators say Oregon is not doing enough to protect water and fish from pollution generated by logging on private lands, stormwater runoff from construction sites, and leaky septic tanks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that they plan to reject portions of Oregon’s program for limiting coastal pollution from non-point sources. A notice was to be published Friday in the
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Federal Register. Oregon stands to lose more than $1 million in federal funding in the short term, and $4 million in coming years, if the problems are not resolved. The action stems from a lawsuit filed by Northwest Environmental Advocates challenging federal approval of Oregon’s program for controlling coastal pollution. EPA and NOAA have to make a final decision by May 15. “Oregon has been prancing around for 15 years dressed up in its Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds as if it were sav-
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SEE POLLUTION | A8
DEATHS
BY JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press
District details cost of Hollensteiner’s departure from NB BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
NORTH BEND — The North Bend school district has finalized all financial changes with the upcoming departure of its superintendent. At the time Dr. BJ Hollensteiner announced her retirement on Dec. 3 she was making $113,111 per year. According to Hollensteiner’s severance agreement, the district authorized her 22-day medical leave until her retirement on Dec. 31. She will also receive three payments of nearly $9,500 in January,
February and March and she will continue to receive medical, dental and vision insurance through the same three months. The district also agreed to pay Hollensteiner for any remaining unused vacation days, though she will not receive any unpaid FMLA leave or sick leave benefits. Hollensteiner signed the severance agreement on Dec. 10. Acting superintendent Bill Yester had signed his employment agreement five days prior. Yester was previously the assistant principal at SEE DEPARTURE | A8
Cover Oregon technology official resigns her post BY JONATHAN J. COOPER The Associated Press
PORTLAND — A senior state manager who oversaw most of the development of Oregon’s struggling health insurance exchange resigned Thursday as developers continue trying to find some way get the online enrollment system to work. Carolyn Lawson stepped down as chief information officer of the Oregon Health and the Authority
Ken Carvall Danny Sossman, Coos Bay David Crumbley, North Bend Roderick Lang, Bandon Marnella Lyons, Las Vegas, Nev. Betty Ramey, Mount Angel Mark Smith, Coos Bay
Department of Human Services for “personal reasons,” the agencies’ leaders wrote in a terse memo to Lawson’s staff and other senior officials. “I have recently experienced a family loss which has caused me to reevaluate many things in my life including continuing to commute to Oregon while my family is in California,” Lawson wrote in her resignation email. She described the decision as “a highly
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Obituaries | A5
FORECAST
COOS BAY — The South Coast economy, which has been hampered since the mills started closing decades ago, has been particularly challenging over the past five years. Charitable organizations have been among those feeling the vice-like pinch. But, while the numbers have drooped as the unemployment rates have risen, they have not fallen as far as some may have expected. It is a fact that reflects well on where we live, and one organization has the numbers to prove it. “Yes, this part of the state is extraordinarily generous,” Annie Donnelly said during a recent conversation at the local office of the Oregon Community Foundation, the largest foundation in the state. “This state, as a whole, is extraordinarily generous compared to the rest of the country.” Donnelly knows this because the agency she works for has spent the past four decades studying the business of giving, while also helping distribute charitable contributions throughout the state. “The purpose of the Community Foundation is to promote philanthropy and to thereby make life better in Oregon for Oregonians,” she said. “By keeping track of giving trends and understanding what people are able and willing to give, and want to support, it’s helpful for the organization to understand what services donors are looking for.”
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personal choice” and said she hoped it would not negatively impact the agencies. Attempts to reach Lawson through her state-issued cellphone and email account were unsuccessful. In previous interviews, Lawson has staunchly defended her agency’s work. Oregon leaders bragged for two years that it would have one of the nation’s most advanced insurance SEE RESIGNS | A8