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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2018)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION WEDDING GUIDE SPECIAL EDITION 128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 9 ❘ JANUARY 31, 2018 ❘ $1.00 LADY VIKS Mapleton School Board TAKE DISTRICT Spotlight SPORTS — B SCHOOLS — INSIDE SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON M OBILE I NTEGRATED H EALTHCARE COMES TO S IUSLAW REGION PeaceHealth, WLAD pilot program could help revolutionize healthcare in region Western Lane Ambulance District (WLAD), in partnership with PeaceHealth B Y J ARED A NDERSON S i u s l a w Siuslaw News Region, is look- ing to change how healthcare is administered in western Lane County. Through a $200,000 donation from the PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center foundation, the organizations have created a new Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) program that will help reduce the rates of emergency room returns in the region, and, in the process, save the quality of life for hundreds of residents — with the potential to save millions of dollars. Managed by WLAD Operations Manager Matt House, and staffed by Chris Martin, who came from anoth- er MIH program in South Carolina, the initiative is a two-year pilot pro- gram that will eventually be rolled out throughout Lane County. “We manage the operations of the MIH Program, and PeaceHealth identifies patients and provides com- puter software such as the Epic Program,” House said. “The goal is to bridge the gaps of community patient care needs.” As of right now, MIH provides in- home services to three types of patients: 30-day readmissions, emer- gency room (ER) high utilizers and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) high users. Other types of users may be identified as the program pro- gresses. “These are all patients that are referred to the hospital system that have been deemed ‘high risk’ of falling back into the emergency department several times for follow up,” House explained. For example, a patient is diag- nosed with congestive heart failure, which is exacerbated by not taking their medications correctly or not eating the right meals. “So, they go back home and into their own habits,” House said. “They’re eating a salty steak diet, and not taking their medications on top of it. They become exacerbated, call 911 and the whole process starts over again. So the whole goal is try- ing to prevent these patients from falling back into the system.” Patients may return to their habits for multiple reasons. During the stress of an emergency room visit, specific instructions by a doc- tor can be missed or misinterpreted. In other cases, environmental factors at homes can make it difficult to make healthier choices. In addition, old habits simply can be hard to break. See HEALTHCARE 7A City applies for state Workforce Housing Initiative Resident speaks about need for workforce training under new development plans B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News St ic ke r sh oc k Florence Police wrap School Resource vehicle with custom sticker kit PHOTOS COURTESY FLORENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT Siuslaw School District and Florence Police Department’s School Resource Officer now has an officially designated vehicle. “We wanted this vehicle to be distinctly different from the fleet patrol vehicles, and some- thing that would appeal to the tarting earlier this kids,” Ott said. month, Florence Police Bailey worked with the Department (FPD) graphics company that does Officer Brandon Bailey offi- the department’s patrol vehi- cially took over the duties of cles and came up with the the School Resource Officer design, which incorporates (SRO) for Siuslaw School some digital camouflage, an District. Sgt. Brandon Ott has been covering the SRO duties School Resource Officer Brandon Bailey with his updated “wheels.” American flag and the Siuslaw Vikings logo. The school dis- since the beginning of the school year due to staffing levels within the In addition, FPD unveiled a new look for trict was also included in the design process. department. Both officers will be present in an older department vehicle now designated the schools through the transition. for the school program. See VEHICLE 7A B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News S Florence resident sentenced in aggravated theft case B Y N ED H ICKSON Siuslaw News INSIDE During a hearing held last Thursday, Jan. 25, in Eugene, Christy Lynn Bursaw, 44, of Florence, was sentenced to 20 days in the Lane County Jail and given four years of supervised probation. The sentencing was a follow- up to the Oct. 25, 2017, arraign- ment of Bursaw on felony charges of aggravated first-degree theft that occurred over the course of 18 months as a bookkeeper at the Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kid Scoop . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A3 B3 A5 Driftwood Shores Resort and Convention Center. According to Driftwood Shores General Manager Martin Alletson, who initiated the inves- tigation after compiling financial information and contacting the Florence Police Department, Bursaw had been stealing tips from employees of the resort’s Surfside Restaurant by changing paperwork reflecting tip amounts intended for its servers. Florence Police Sgt. Brandon Ott, who conducted the official investigation, confirmed that Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 School Zone . . . . . . . . . Inside Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Bursaw had an ongoing enterprise that began soon after she was hired. The money, which was estimat- ed to be more than $17,000 taken from 54 different employees, was later replaced by Driftwood Shores and given back to the appropriate restaurant staff by using financial information to identify which employees had been stolen from, and how much each had lost. “We worked closely with the police and gave them all the back- up data to show exactly what was THIS WEEK ’ S taken, how much and who it was taken from,” said Alletson. At the close of his investiga- tion, Ott submitted an affidavit to the Lane County District Attorney’s Office, stating that Bursaw had initially denied wrongdoing but eventually admit- ted to the theft and apologized for her actions. The investigation and affidavit submitted by Ott led to formal charges resulting in last week’s sentencing. See TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 51 43 53 48 55 47 57 47 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 At the Jan. 22 Florence City Council meet- ing, the four currently seated councilors voted to approve a submission for a Workforce Housing Initiative to the State of Oregon Housing and Community Services’ request for applications. The submission was turned in before the application period ended Jan. 25. City Recorder Kelli Weese presented the materials to the council. “The State of Oregon, through the Governor’s Office, has put together a request for applications to help support workforce housing initiatives in the state, which is anoth- er way of saying ‘grant,’” Weese said. “They are looking for pilot programs that will help support housing initiatives in Oregon that can be replicated throughout the state.” According to Weese, Oregon Housing and Community Services is seeking four or five pilot projects that it can then fund for any- where from $100,000 to $300,000 per project. The projects are supposed to be innovative and show new ways to account for affordable and workforce housing. “Of course we want to apply to this, since workforce housing is an obvious need for Florence,” Weese said. City Manager Erin Reynolds said the state is defining “workforce housing” as house- holds within 60 to 120 percent of the average median income of the county. According to Data USA, Lane County has a median household income of $47,318. Sixty percent of that would be $28,391 and 120 per- cent of that would be $56,782. “There are quite a few programs and a lot of work done at the state and federal level to meet the requirements of households below that 60 percent,” Reynolds said. “This is very new for the State of Oregon to be participat- ing in workforce housing. In this work and hearing the cry from communities of the housing crises in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, the state would like to find a way to help meet this needed housing.” She added, “Just as much as we’re being asked to be innovative in our approach, the state is being innovative in its approach to meeting the needed housing for the workforce in Oregon. We’re on the cutting edge.” The City of Florence is applying for two separate tracks under the initiative. The first seeks to develop a specific site on 15th Street and Airport Road for workforce housing with the help of regional partners. This is city-owned property that previously housed the Florence Senior Center and is the current site of the Florence First Harvest Community Garden. THEFT 6A S IUSLAW N EWS 3 S ECTIONS ❘ 18 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018 See HOUSING 6A
