Nurse to get settlement

Jackson County officials tentatively have agreed to pay &

36;34,000 to a former county nurse practitioner who said she was wrongly fired.

County commissioners are scheduled to discuss the proposed settlement with Bunny Lewis at a work session today. Lewis, 53, worked for the Jackson County Health Department for a dozen years before she was fired in February, she said.

Lewis, who most recently worked at a school-based health center at CrossRoads School in Medford, said county officials failed to follow union-required protocols when they let her go. She also said she disagreed with a decision to limit care to family planning clients, which removed menopausal women and women who'd had hysterectomies from care.

She declined more detailed discussion of the settlement, citing a confidentiality agreement.

County Administrator Sue Slack said she couldn't comment on the matter because of the confidentiality clause.

According to the agreement, the county would pay Lewis &

36;27,000 plus &

36;7,000 in fees for her attorney, Joe Charter. Normal payroll expenses would be deducted from the amount, the agreement noted.

— The funds would constitute back pay for Lewis from February to August, when she officially resigned, she said.

As part of the settlement, county officials agreed to put a letter of recommendation in Lewis' employment file.

Since leaving the county, Lewis has started her own clinic, Lasting Wellness Health Care for Women, based in Ashland.