By Sharon Salyer
Herald Writer
Pay raise agreements with several groups of both union and nonunion employees at the Snohomish Health District were approved by the agency’s governing board Tuesday, with many employees getting raises of 3.5 percent or more next year.
The agreements mean that the top official at the countywide public health agency, Dr. M. Ward Hinds, will be paid $121,075 and deputy administrator Rick Mockler, second in command, will receive $100,854 in 2002.
Total pay raises for the health district next year will cost about $325,000, Mockler said.
Environmental health workers will get a 3.5 percent raise next year and case managers and social workers will get 3.9 percent, he said. Both groups, totaling about 70 employees, are represented by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.
Nonunion staff, a group of about 80 employees including Hinds and Mockler, will get a 3.9 percent pay boost.
The health agency reached an agreement last year with its nurses that will boost their salaries 4 percent next year, Mockler said.
It has yet to reach agreement with about 35 clerical employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, he added.
In other action, a change in health care insurance plans means the employees with same-sex domestic partners can now be covered.
It also will provide cheaper benefits for retirees, Mockler said.
Unlike the new policy adopted for county government workers, it will not extend coverage to the partners of unmarried heterosexual couples, he said.
The health agency began looking for new health insurance coverage when notified that it was facing an increase of 20 to 25 percent in charges with its current plan for next year, he said.
The plan is offered through the Public Employees Benefits Board, which also provides coverage to more than 200,000 state workers, including school district employees and those working in higher education.
You can call Herald Writer Sharon Salyer at 425-339-3486 or send e-mail to
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