The Oregon Educators Benefit Board took steps toward hiring a new permanent director, expanded eligibility for free colon cancer screenings and detailed mental health resources for members in the wake of last week’s massacre in Roseburg.
The OEBB board, which has been without a permanent administrator since Joan Kapowich was let go in late 2013, outlined a plan to have a new leader hired by Thanksgiving.
The board plans a first round of interviews by video conference next week with five candidates, including three from outside Oregon. A second round of interviews is scheduled for the first week of November.
OEBB has had two interim leaders since Kapowich left -- former Oregon Health Authority Chief Financial Officer Kelly Ballas and Kathy Loretz, the current interim, who has served as the deputy administrator of the Public Employees Benefit Board since 2009.
Kapowich had been the chief administrator for both PEBB and OEBB, but after the two boards failed to agree on a joint administrator, Loretz was promoted to the permanent top job at PEBB this summer, while OEBB continues its search.
October was also the last meeting for deputy OEBB administrator Denise Hall -- after the completion of the open enrollment for the 2015-2016 school year, Hall is retiring on schedule after 30 years of work for the state. She has been at OEBB since its inception in 2007.
Hall said chief operating officer Heidi Williams will share her former duties with Loretz until the new administrator is hired; the deputy administrator jobs for both OEBB and PEBB are being eliminated since each organization will have its own chief administrator.
More Offered Free Colon Screenings
After noticing that Kaiser and Moda Health had different standards for members to receive free preventive colon screenings, the OEBB board voted unanimously to raise the coverage protocol for Moda to the more progressive standard of Kaiser.
Now, preventive screenings will be free-of-charge for people with complicating health factors or a family history of colon cancer, regardless of age. Colonoscopies may also be done more frequently than 10 years. Previously, Moda Health only covered colon screenings as preventive care if the patient was 50 or older -- adhering to more limited national standards.
The enhanced opportunity for screening should only affect a fraction of OEBB members, and Moda’s rates will not go up immediately, although the additional screenings may be subject to contract negotiation. Given the lives saved and the complications avoided by early detection, a progressive actuarial analysis should determine how much money these screenings will save in the long run.
OEBB and OHA Resources for Umpqua
Paul Tyo, a regional manager for Reliant Behavioral Health, which arranges counseling for OEBB members, said that two crisis clinics were planned, including one for Roseburg High School, after the tragic murder of nine people last week at Umpqua Community College.
Reliant offers an employee assistance program with both face-to-face and online counselors for those needing someone to talk to, and Tyo said it was important to reduce the stigma and normalize the process of handling grief, depression and anxiety as a result of the trauma.
“They’re still very much in shock,” he said.
The Oregon Health Authority has also deployed significant resources to assist Douglas County and Roseburg in the aftermath of the worst school shooting in Oregon history. As of Wednesday, OHA has six people in Roseburg including the public health director, behavioral Health director and director of emergency operations.
“We requested the Region X Health & Human Services Risk Behavioral Health Team, which had deployed to the Sandy Hook shooting, to arrive in Roseburg within 36 hours,” said Jonathan Modie, the spokesman for the Public Health Division. “We had a public information officer join the state joint information center team led by Oregon State Police to offer mental health resources.”
