5A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015
Sawa: ‘The decision was entirely my own’
Continued from Page 1A
take a job as a staff nurse at the
PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medi-
cal Center. During his 15 years
in Ketchikan, Sawa gradually
climbed the ladder, working
as a house supervisor, nurse
manager and director of acute
care services. )or his last ¿ ve
years in Alaska, he served as
the regional vice president for
patient care services. He also
brieÀ y served as interim C(2
at Wrangel Medical Center in
Alaska before moving his fam-
ily to the Long Beach Peninsu-
la in 2012.
Similar challenges,
more resources
Sawa¶s contract with 2BH
is set to expire at the end of this
year, but he said that wasn’t a
factor in his decision to leave.
“I wasn’t necessarily out
there looking for something
else. I felt secure in my role (at
2BH beyond the existence of
a management contract,” Sawa
said. “... I knew about the op-
portunity and when I received
encouragement to consider it,
it made me want to learn more
about it.”
Like PeaceHealth, Provi-
dence is a non pro¿ t, Catholic
healthcare system. According
to the Providence website, it is
the third-largest not-for-pro¿ t
healthcare system in the U.S.,
and runs hospitals and clinics
in California, 2regon, Wash-
ington, Alaska and Montana.
Sawa said running the Sea-
side hospital will be some-
what different than running
2BH, because it is a private
institution. But both facilities
confront similar challenges
² especially the dif¿ culties
of recruiting specialized staff
to a rural region, and coping
with changing reimbursement
models.
“It’s just different — I don’t
know if it’s any more com-
plex,” Sawa said, but he noted
that as a large and “mature”
healthcare system, Providence
has plenty of experience run-
ning small, rural hospitals.
“I’m looking forward to
having the support and re-
sources,” Sawa said.
Tough decisions and
ambitious projects
When he arrived at 2cean
Beach Hospital in 2012, the
hospital was on the brink of ¿ -
nancial collapse. Due to reces-
sion and rapid changes to the
healthcare industry, the hospi-
tal was deep in debt, operating
at a loss, and dangerously close
to not being able to make pay-
roll. Hospital commissioners
had recently ¿ red the last per-
manent C(2, and appointed
an interim C(2. With so much
turmoil, public perceptions of
the hospital had suffered .
Sawa and his team began
making big changes almost
immediately. In 2012 and
201, the hospital signi¿ -
cantly scaled down, through
layoffs and other cost-cutting
measures. Since then, hospi-
tal leaders have made a few
other staff reductions, most-
ly through attrition. In July
2015, the hospital eliminated
in-house medical records and
billing jobs, and turned billing
over to a contractor.
Sawa also oversaw the
successful transition from a
paper-based medical record
system to a new, federally
mandated electronic medi-
cal records system. The pro-
cess was both expensive and
time-consuming, but helped
the hospital modernize and
provide more responsive care
— now, healthcare providers
across the system can access
patients’ information through
in-room computer terminals.
more ¿ nancial stability, and
make it possible to bring more
specialists and services to the
Long Beach Peninsula. But
in 2ctober 2014, PeaceHealth
leaders backed out, saying the
organization was overextend-
ed as a result of other new
partnership deals and the effort
to implement their own elec-
tronic medical records system.
Between fall 2014 and
spring 2015, PeaceHealth lead-
ers radically restructured some
of the regional administrative
teams. A new chief operating
of¿ cer joined the organization,
and several key administrators
left in short succession.
Sawa said he is leaving on
good terms with PeaceHealth,
and the recent turmoil had
nothing to do with his decision
to take a job with Providence.
“2ne of the hardest deci-
sions I had to make was if I
was ready to leave after 18
years of service with them.
The decision was entirely my
own,” Sawa said.
Not a casualty of
PeaceHealth turmoil
Like other small, rural
hospitals, 2BH continues to
struggle, but Sawa will leave
the institution in much better
¿ nancial shape than he found
it. In 2012, the hospital only
had enough cash in reserve to
operate for about two days.
Starting in January 2014,
Sawa led an effort to form a
more formal partnership be-
tween PeaceHealth and 2BH.
Local hospital leaders hoped
that af¿ liating would bring
A healthier hospital
Rebuffed Fish and Wildlife
appointees con¿ rmed
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SAL(M — The 2regon
Senate voted this week to
con¿ rm two members of the
2regon Fish and Wildlife
Commission whom Gov. Kate
Brown reappointed in April.
The move was a reversal
from earlier this year, when the
Senate Committee on 5ules
delayed action on the two re-
appointments over concerns
that commissioners had failed
to adeTuately oversee the 2r-
egon Department of Fish and
Wildlife budget. The sport
¿ shing industry and cattle
ranchers had also called for the
governor to appoint commis-
sioners who represented their
perspectives. Commissioners
are appointed to represent 2r-
egon’s congressional districts.
The Senate voted 22-8 on
Wednesday to con¿ rm the
two re-appointees, Holly Ak-
enson of (nterprise, and Mi-
chael Finley of Medford. Ak-
enson is a wildlife biologist,
manages a tree farm with her
husband and is an archery and
riÀ e big game hunter, accord-
ing to the Department of Fish
and Wildlife’s website. Finley
is president of a grant-making
foundation, and previously
Mike Finley
Holly Akenson
served as superintendent of
Yellowstone, Yosemite and
(verglades national parks. He
is also a hunter and angler.
Ahead of the vote Wednes-
day, Senate 5epublicans said
they had been under the im-
pression Brown would recon-
sider the reappointments.
The Senate voted in May to
con¿ rm two other controver-
sial appointees to the commis-
sion, Astoria resident Bruce
Buckmaster who has ties to
the commercial gillnet ¿ shing
industry and former state law-
maker Jason Atkinson of Jack-
sonville.
“You cannot continue to
load the board with philosoph-
ical people that represent the
big cities,” said state Sen. Fred
Girod, 5-Stayton. “It does not
work ... The Legislature de-
serves a lot of the credibility
for this agency going down
the toilet, and the governor
deserves a lot of credibility for
this agency going down the
toilet. I urge a ‘no’ vote.”
Girod’s language dis-
pleased Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem.
“Sen. Ted Ferrioli, try not
using the word toilet, please,”
Courtney said, as the Senate
minority leader from John Day
prepared to speak.
Ferrioli said the 2regon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life’s budget trouble is an indi-
cation the commission has not
ful¿ lled its ¿ duciary responsi-
bility.
“But there’s another issue
here, and that is the credibil-
ity of the governor and the
credibility of the appoint-
ments secretary,” Ferrioli said.
“Members who voted unani-
mously (in committee for the
last round of appointments to
2DFW did so on the assurance
there would be consideration
of a sport ¿ shing member and
a landowner. That did not hap-
pen. That to me is a breach of
con¿ dence and a sort of a dis-
connect between credibility of
the governor and the expecta-
tion that her asks will be re-
spected.”
Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Spring-
¿ eld, said Akenson and Finley
do represent hunters and an-
glers.
“I think the two people you
have in front of you today to
vote on are incredibly qual-
i¿ ed,” Beyer said. “2ne of
them indeed is a property own-
er and an agricultural person.
Perhaps small scale, perhaps
not the one people wanted, but
she does meet that quali¿ ca-
tion.”
This stor\ ¿ rst appeared
in the Oregon Capital Insider
newsletter. To subscribe, go to
oregoncapitalinsider.com
State unprepared to accept, store pot tax cash
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SAL(M — 2regon law-
makers this week questioned
whether the state Department
of 5evenue will be ready to
accept massive amounts of
cash in 2016, when 2rego-
nians begin paying a sales tax
on recreational marijuana.
The department expects
to collect approximately $1
million a month, with 40 to 80
percent in cash.
“The (Legislative Fiscal
2f¿ ce report here states that a
formal security assessment has
yet to be conducted by either
the 2regon State Police or an
independent security ¿ rm,”
state Sen. Doug Whitsett,
5-Klamath Falls, said during
a hearing by the Joint Sub-
committee 2n General Gov-
ernment on Nov. 16 “You’re
going to start getting money
in January, a couple hundred
thousand dollars in cash a day.
When do you plan to make that
secure, and how?”
John Galvin, a marijuana
tax program and withholding
and payroll tax manager at
the Department of 5evenue,
said during the committee
hearing that “time is not on
our side here.” Galvin said
EO Media Group
Beginning in January the state will begin collecting tax-
es from legal marijuana businesses, most of which will
be paid in cash. The Department of Revenue has not yet
made infrastructure changes necessary to accept and
store as much as $1 million a month the taxes are expect-
ed to generate.
lawmakers only moved re-
sponsibility for marijuana tax
collection from the 2regon
Liquor Control Commission,
which regulates the new rec-
reational pot market, to the
Department of 5evenue in
late May.
The department had a se-
curity assessment scheduled
with the 2regon State Police,
and “our facilities team at the
department has begun work
creating a secure environ-
ment,” Galvin said. “They’ve
had a structural analysis done
for the safe. They’re starting
to order cameras.”
Currently, adults age 21
and older can purchase lim-
ited marijuana products tax-
free — seeds, dried leaves,
À owers and non-À owering
plants — at medical dis-
pensaries, under an early
sale law passed by the Leg-
islature. A temporary 25
percent sales tax on these
limited, early sale prod-
ucts takes effect Jan. 4, and
stores can keep 2 percent of
the tax to cover administra-
tive costs, Galvin said. This
will change to a permanent
17 percent sales tax, also
with a 2 percent adminis-
trative hold back for stores,
when licensed recreational
marijuana retailers open in
late 2016. There is no tax
on pot for medical marijua-
na patients.
The Department of 5eve-
nue will also likely ask the
Legislature for more mon-
ey in the 2016 session to
collect recreational mari-
juana taxes, Legislative Fis-
cal 2f¿ ce analyst John Bor-
den said during the hearing.
Borden said the Legislative
Fiscal 2f¿ ce found the De-
partment of 5evenue might
need more resources to col-
lect the taxes, but could also
streamline its operations and
might be on the cusp of hir-
ing employees for duplica-
tive and potentially unneces-
sary jobs.
This stor\ ¿ rst appeared
in the Oregon Capital Insider
newsletter. To subscribe, go to
oregoncapitalinsider.com
Now, it has enough reserves
to operate for about 60 days.
The hospital has paid down
much of its debt, and gotten
far more ef¿ cient at bringing
money in: When Sawa arrived,
accounts payable totaled about
$1.6 million, but now are un-
der $400,000. Sawa said he
believes the hospital, which
operated at a loss for several
years, should ¿ nish 2015 in
the black.
The hospital also brought in
some women’s health services,
and in early 2014, brought in a
full-time general surgeon.
“That was probably one
of the most signi¿ cant things
we’ve done,” Sawa said. He
said the surgery has proven to
be a reliable source of revenue
for the hospital, and is ex-
tremely popular with patients,
who appreciate being able to
get simple procedures done
locally. Now, the hospital is
planning to expand services by
hiring a surgical assistant. The
physical therapy department
was remodeled recently, and
the hospital hopes to expand
both physical therapy and car-
diac rehabilitation services in
future, too.
“I feel that 2cean Beach is
in a really positive place right
now. Change is never easy, but
I think good things can come
from this,” Sawa said. “I’m
proud of the team here and
proud of the community sup-
port over the past three years.”
Hoping for a
‘smooth transition’
Sawa said hospital com-
missioners have appointed
Chief 2perating 2f¿ cer Lar-
ry Cohen, who was hired in
July, to act as the interim C(2,
while they consider their op-
tions . Sawa said he was con¿ -
dent of Cohen’s ability to lead
the hospital.
“He’s a good ¿ t with the
mission vision and values of
2cean Beach. He bought a
house in the community —
he’s all in,” Sawa said.
Sawa said the commis-
sioners have not decided yet
whether to renew the manage-
ment agreement with Peace-
Health, and have not made any
decisions about how to recruit
for Sawa’s position. He said
the board was likely to discuss
both issues at the December
meeting.
Starting in January, Sawa
will gradually turn over day-
to-day operations to Cohen,
and will begin working at
Providence around Jan. 16.
He said he and his family
plan to continue living on the
peninsula for foreseeable future.
“I’m committed to a
smooth transition,” Sawa said.
*roup clears ¿ rst
step for abortion
ballot measure
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SAL(M — An initia-
tive to ban state funding of
abortions has passed the ¿ rst
hurdle toward a place on the
2016 ballot.
Chief
sponsor
Jeff
Jimerson of Corvallis an-
nounced Friday that his
group, 2regon Life United,
has gathered the 1,000 sig-
natures needed to obtain a
ballot title for the initiative.
The group had garnered
about 1,500 signatures as of
early Friday.
This marks the third time
Jimerson has sought to send
the initiative to voters. He
failed to secure enough sig-
natures in 2012 and 2014.
“(ach time we are get-
ting closer and closer,” said
Alicia Marks, 2regon Life
United spokeswoman. “We
really do think we have a
strong enough volunteer
base this time to get it on the
ballot for 2016.
2regon Life United must
obtain 117,578 valid signa-
tures to place the initiative
on the ballot.
About 40 percent of the
nearly 5,000 abortions per-
formed between January and
2ctober were paid for with
state funding, according to
2regon Health Authority.
The state paid about $1.8
million for a total of 3,556
abortions in 2013-14, the
most recent ¿ gures available
Friday. (ach procedure cost
about $500.
Jeff Jimerson
2regon 5ight to Life
supports the initiative but
has made no ¿ nancial com-
mitment to the effort, said
spokeswoman Liberty Pike.
The organization has
chosen to spend its resourc-
es on supporting pro-life
candidates in the upcoming
election and lobbying law-
makers, Pike said.
“What we have found is
the system is set up so that
it costs hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars to get a
measure on the ballot,” she
said. “We have decided to
use our resources in areas
where we think we can get
the best return on our in-
vestment.”
A Planned Parenthood
spokeswoman did not im-
mediately have a comment
on how it plans to respond to
the initiative effort.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
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