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Republican Monica Wehby speaks to supporters Tuesday after voters overwhelmingly re-elected Sen. Jeff Merkley. The pediatric neurosurgeon says she's open to working in a more civic-minded job in the future in which she could help with health care reform.

(Randy Rasmussen/The Oregonian)

A day after losing her bid for U.S. Senate, Monica Wehby picked up the phone and reached Gov. John Kitzhaber on his cell.

Wehby, a Republican and fellow doctor, offered her expertise and interest in health care reform to the newly re-elected Democratic governor. And, according to multiple sources, she asked about a job opening: director of the Oregon Health Authority.

Kitzhaber spokeswoman Amy Wojcicki confirmed that the two talked but wouldn't comment on whether Wehby asked about the OHA job.

"The governor and Dr. Wehby had a private conversation," Wojcicki said, "where she expressed interest in getting involved in the future of health care reform."

Wehby said in an interview Friday that she's known Kitzhaber for a decade and called to congratulate him. She said she didn't ask about any job but said she's exploring opportunities.

"Honestly, I'm looking at all sorts of options. I want to stay involved," she said, stressing that health care shouldn't be a partisan issue and that she hopes to help with health care reform in Oregon and nationwide.

On the Oregon Health Authority, she said: "Clearly that's where the health care decisions are being made."

Wehby's interest in the job left others scratching their heads.

Leading the agency would be an odd choice for Wehby, 52. The OHA director is the state's top official in charge of implementing Obamacare -- one of her key targets in challenging Sen. Jeff Merkley. Even her campaign slogan incorporated an attack on the law: "Keep Your Doctor. Change Your Senator."

In 2009, Wehby starred in a nationwide commercial warning voters about the plan's dangers.

In addition, the post isn't seen as any type of springboard into political office. It also pays far less than what Wehby earns as a pediatric neurosurgeon for Legacy Health Systems -- $861,479 in 2013. A previous longtime OHA director made $173,000 a year.

The Oregon Health Authority oversees the Medicaid-funded Oregon Health Plan, which has expanded coverage to 300,000 low-income Oregonians under the federal law.

Kitzhaber has also proposed that the agency take over some functions of Cover Oregon, the health insurance exchange tasked with helping people obtain hefty federal tax credits while enrolling in private health insurance plans. Though the federal government will absorb some exchange functions, others such as outreach and regulation will remain state responsibilities.

The top job at the Oregon Health Authority has had a revolving door over the past year. Longtime leader Bruce Goldberg left last December to head Cover Oregon (resigning four months later after his decisions were blamed for many of the health exchange's problems). He was followed by two interim directors.

Jeff Heatherington, president of FamilyCare Health Plans, chuckled when he heard about Wehby's interest.

Heatherington, whose company contracts with the state to provide managed care to low-income families on the Oregon Health Plan, said the Health Authority needs a strong administrator to clean it up, then manage it with a great deal of political know-how.

"About $16 billion runs through the Oregon Health Authority," he added. "You don't put a novice in there."

Wehby said she's keeping an open mind about her future in politics or a state job. In the meantime, she said she plans to return to her practice at Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel by the end of the month.

"If something good comes along, I would certainly look at any opportunity to help with health care issues in Oregon and the country," she said. "That's one of the main reasons I ran for the Senate in the first place."

-- Laura Gunderson