ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080032
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield will eliminate 40 jobs at its Roanoke offices at the end of this week. Ten of the positions are already vacant, but 30 people were told Tuesday that they would be laid off.
The Roanoke cuts are part of the health insurer's moves "to meet the challenges and changes of today's managed care industry." They come just a few weeks before Trigon converts to a for-profit company, a change that generated considerable controversy last year before the plan was approved by state regulators.
The company said it will eliminate a total of 276 positions. Most are at its Richmond headquarters.
Of the overall number, 66 jobs are vacant and 140 people will be laid off Friday. The other 70 will be cut at the end of the year, the company said, all or most of them through attrition. Employees will receive severance pay and help finding new jobs based on their tenure.
The company has a work force of 3,775, including 759 employees in Roanoke. That's about 200 fewer people than the insurer employed in Roanoke several years ago.
Brooke Taylor, spokeswoman for Trigon, said the terminated jobs cover all levels of salaries and positions. Seventeen percent of the positions eliminated were management positions.
Along with the layoffs, the company announced that it has "reshaped" its organizational structure into a number of geographically based local market units. They will be supported by service units organized along functional lines.
``Reaching this decision was not easy,'' said Norwood Davis Jr., CEO and chairman. ``However, we believe the actions we are taking will make Trigon a more agile, effective competitor in an increasingly competitive managed care market. Our customers and our competitors are all doing more with less, and the same is demanded of us.''
The restructuring is designed to eliminate redundancy and reduce operating costs and allow the company to focus more on local markets and customer requirements.
The company announced in October that it would increase its employees' work week from 371/2 to 40 hours a week. That change took effect Monday.
In its reorganization, Trigon named Judy Perlman, who works in the Roanoke office, vice president for the Western Virginia region, one of four regional officers. She will focus on all business in the Roanoke market.
John Berry remains stationed in Roanoke as head of Trigon's individual policy lines.
Kathy Ashby Merry of the Roanoke office, who has been vice president and general manager of individual policy markets, has been named senior vice president of member services in a long string of new appointments.
Linda Bambacus, who has been in charge of under-65 individual and student business, will replace Merry.
Trigon's switch to a stock corporation from a mutual company owned by policyholders is expected to be made early next month.
Trigon will distribute 32 million shares of common stock to eligible policyholders, most of them employers with group health insurance plans. This is half the number of shares originally anticipated, and Trigon said it expects an initial offering price of $12 to $14 a share.
Another 11.5 million shares will be offered to the public.
The company also announced two nominations to its board of directors Tuesday.
Hubert Stallard, president of BellAtlantic of Virginia, was chosen from the slate nominated by the Joint Rules Committee of the Virginia General Assembly. Hunter Andrews, chosen from a slate nominated by Attorney General Jim Gilmore, is a Hampton lawyer and former majority leader of the state Senate.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines KEYWORDS: JOBCHEKby CNB