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Tim Lagerhausen, left, and Shailesh Jain of Oracle join dozens of programmers at work completing the Cover Oregon website. With the application deadline looming, the state was forced to use paper applications to the health insurance exchange when the online process failed.

(Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian)

Carolyn Lawson, the embattled state technology executive who oversaw much of the development of Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange, has resigned for personal reasons.

It was Lawson, chief information officer at the Oregon Health Authority, who decided the state could manage the complex exchange project itself, rather than hire a private-sector systems integrator, a decision since criticized by her superiors. Lawson also was close to Oracle Corp., the California technology giant that has been blamed for doing shoddy work and repeatedly missing deadlines.

Nearly three months after the federal deadline for a functional health exchange website, Oregon's exchange has emerged as a technological train wreck and a PR nightmare. The state has paid more than $160 million and a fully functional site remains weeks -- perhaps months -- away.

State officials have been forced to spend even more money gearing up a massive system of temporary employees and contractors to manually process paper applications for health insurance.

Lawson started work for Oregon on July 1, 2011. The state paid her $178,992 a year.

As The Oregonian reported Sunday, the exchange has been plagued by poor work by Oracle. Miscues by state managers have also figured prominently in the exchange's issues.

An August 2012 report from the project's quality assurance contractor found the exchange project was disorganized, lacked basic management and budget controls to ensure contractor performance. The exchange's fate was further endangered by distrust and lack of communication between Lawson's Oregon Health Authority and Cover Oregon, the public corporation that took over responsibility for the exchange's contracts in May 2013.

As recently as last week, Lawson defended the choice of Oracle and the decision not to hire a systems integrator. The exchange was built with Oracle software and hardware, so who better than Oracle to manage the process, she said.

"The reason why you want a prime is you want to have access to the people who know the most about the platform or platforms you're using," Lawson said. "We had Oracle."

Lawson worked closely with Oracle when she worked for two California state agencies before her hiring by Oregon. She was a featured speaker at OpenWorld, Oracle's enormous annual technology trade show, in 2012 and 2013, she confirmed. She received no compensation for doing so, she said.

Tina Edlund, acting OHA director, sent out an email shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday announcing Lawson's departure. In an email to her bosses, Lawson said the recent death of her mother-in-law convinced her to make the move. She'd been commuting to Oregon weekly from her home in the Sacramento area.

"We want to thank Carolyn for her service to our agencies and the state," Edlund said in the email. "Under her leadership, the OIS team had many successes and improved services to both OHA/DHS employees and the citizens of Oregon."

Lawson handed control of the exchange in May to Rocky King, Cover Oregon's executive director. Longtime OHA leader Bruce Goldberg became acting Cover Oregon director earlier this month after King went on medical leave. Goldberg has taken over daily oversight of the troubled exchange project.

Officials in Gov. John Kitzhaber's office declined comment on Lawson's departure. The governor has called for an independent review of the exchange technology development effort and how it went wrong.

The state is negotiating with a contractor it wants to conduct the review. "We're still determining the scope," said Kitzhaber spokesman Ian Greenfield. "We're moving as fast as we can on getting this started."

-- Jeff Manning