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WEDNESDAY EDITION
COAST
CENTRAL
SIUSLAW’S BEST
TO BE INDUCTED
SPORTS — B
126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 62
❘ AUGUST 3, 2016 ❘ $1.00
A&E — INSIDE
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
PeaceHealth working to recruit more doctors
S TAFF R EPORT
Siuslaw News
The recent loss of several primary
care physicians at PeaceHealth Peace
Harbor Medical Center could affect up
to 6,000 patients in the Florence area,
according to hospital officials who
held a press conference last Friday to
discuss the ongoing issues of doctor
turnover and retention.
Dr. Ron Shearer, medical director at
Peace Harbor, said seven of the hospital’s
30 doctors have either already left or will
leave by the end of this year due to a vari-
ety of reasons, including retirement.
Three of the doctors, Amir-
Mohammad Jalilian-Nosraty, Idalee
Posa and Stephen Kerner, are primary
care providers. Kerner, however, will
remain at the hospital but has changed
from family practice to specializing in
palliative care for the elderly.
“When you ask the providers that
leave, and I know some of them are
writing letters, they left mostly for per-
sonal reasons. Some have a need for
themselves or their family that can only
be supplied by a larger community,”
Shearer said. “They leave for the same
reasons that other people leave town.
It’s unfortunate that so many happened
to do it all at the same time.”
Michael Penrose, system director of
provider recruitment for PeaceHealth,
said Peace Harbor was in the middle
of a 12-month primary care recruit-
ment campaign, focusing on providers
who were born, licensed or educated
in Oregon, Washington or Alaska.
A SLAM-BANG FINISH
“Recruiting primary care for rural
markets is the most difficult recruit-
ment right now. The moment someone
starts thinking about rural Oregon, we
will be there,” Penrose said.
Shearer added, “There is more
recruiting that has happened in the last
year than has happened in the past 20
years, and we are set up to retain (the
recruiting program).”
See
HOSPITAL 7A
Branch
causes
power
outage
Crews work quickly
to restore electricity
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
Nearly 650 Florence-area
customers of Central Lincoln
PUD were affected by a power
outage Saturday evening that
left Old Town and other areas
around Highways 126 and 101
in the dark for 40 minutes.
Residents first started report-
ing power outages around 6 p.m.
on July 30.
Chris Chandler, communica-
tion manager for Central
Lincoln, said the outage began
about one-half mile east on
Highway 126. Customers also
reported outages south of the
Siuslaw River Bridge on
Highway 101 and as far east as
Tiernan on Highway 126.
The outage was caused by a
branch falling on Central
Lincoln’s power line due to high
winds, Chandler said.
“Thanks to our fast-acting
crew, power was back on in 40
minutes,” she said.
Though power was restored
within an hour, the outage lasted
long enough to disturb the start
of Port of Siuslaw’s WindFest
on the boardwalk, diners on Bay
Street and residents and visitors
in their homes or hotels.
PHOTOS BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS
D
ozens of youth and their families filled the parking lot of Siuslaw
Public Library’s Florence location last Thursday for the Summer
Reading Program Grand Finale. Youth banged into each other with
inflatable bumper balls, threw water balloons at each other, splashed through
wading pools, swarmed the inflatable slide, ate hot dogs and picked out a new
book to take home, donated by Friends of the Library. This year’s Summer
Reading theme was “Ready, Set, Read!” with an activity-based program to
encourage reading and exercise during the summer months. Librarian Gayle
Waiss said 636 kids, 39 teens and 103 adults participated this year.
See
C O O L P L A C ES
Heceta Head Lighthouse
TO VISIT THIS SUMMER
Highway 101 North, Florence ❘ 541-547-3416
A T A GLANCE : One of the most
photographed landmarks on the
coast, Heceta Head Lighthouse
and surrounding scenic trails
attract more than 800,000 visitors
each year. The historic lighthouse,
perched on the tip of Heceta
Head, about 13 miles north of
Florence off Highway 101, opened
in 1894 and stands 56 feet tall and
205 feet above sea level.
The first-order Fresnel lens
beam can be seen up to 24 miles
INSIDE
S PECIAL F EATURE :
This summer we are
highlighting unique
spots that make the
central Oregon coast
one of the coolest
places to live and play.
New locations will be
featured each month.
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . .
Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B6
A5
A2
A4
Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
Scoreboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2
SIUSLAW NEWS PHOTO
THIS WEEK ’ S
offshore and is the brightest light
on the Oregon coast.
Near the landmark is the old
assistant lighthouse keeper’s house,
which has been turned into a bed
and breakfast.
A day-use parking permit is
required to visit the state scenic
viewpoint, which is open year
round and also features paved
parking, a beach area with natural
caves and tidepools, wildlife view-
ing and hiking trails.
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
69 52
68 54
66 51
66 54
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
Florence, OR CCB#195304
S IUSLAW N EWS
2 S ECTIONS ❘ 16 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2016
POWER 7A
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Current shortage of primary care physicians
in Florence may last through spring 2017