community news
A Message From the
Vernonia Health Center
We would like to take
this opportunity to address recent
questions that have surfaced in the
community. We hope a review of
the history and where we are to date
will answer these questions.
As you all know, we were
flooded in 2007 and in previous
articles we informed you that the
Vernonia Health Center building is
mandated to move out of the flood
plane by Dec. 2012.
In the pursuit of that
mission, we have found that
unfortunately there are no funding
opportunities available for a new
facility given our current operating
partnership.
In order to maintain
the high level of services this
community needs, we have had to
pursue other sources of funding
available to us, including the basic
primary business partnership.
In
looking
at
the
opportunities
available,
we
requested the aid of the Governors
Office,
Oregon
Solutions,
O.P.C.A (Oregon Primary Care
Associates), Oregon Office of
Rural Health, Senators Betsy
Johnson, Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley,
Representatives David Wu, Brad
Witt, and Columbia County
Commissioner Tony Hyde.
Senator Johnson graciously
made the introductions to the
Coastal Family Health Center which
has been a successful medical clinic
practicing the past 8 years under
the guidance of CEO Jim Coffee,
MPA. After meeting with Mr.
Coffee and looking at all available
opportunities, the Vernonia Health
Center Board of Directors weighed
pros and cons and it was obvious
that it would be in the community’s
best interest to apply for approval
of our new partnership with Coastal
Family Health Center.
The
partnership
with
Coastal Family Health Center
brings with it, the following:
• New funding opportunities
to move the clinic out of the flood
plain.
• Expansion of clinic hours
to meet the needs of the workforce,
to include the potential of evenings,
weekends.
• Continue to provide
quality services to the insured and
underinsured, and non-insured.
• Expanded dental and
mental health services.
• Acceptances of all major
insurance carriers.
• Transportation to and
from appointments.
• Expanded opportunity
of physician recruitment and long
term retainment.
We will be notified of the
approval or denial of this application
by the end of this year 2011.
Coastal Family Health
Center and Providence Health and
Services are working diligently
together to ensure a smooth
transition including joint hiring of
clinic staff. You will probably notice
some new faces at the medical
center as the transition unfolds.
The employees hired through this
process are anticipated to make the
transition to the new partnership
with Coastal Family Health Center.
The health board is
currently working in partnership
with the City on development of
the Rose Avenue project as the new
medical center location.
We look forward to keeping
you informed as new information
materializes.
“The mission of the Vernonia
Health Center is to participate, as
far as circumstances may warrant,
in any activity designed and carried
on to promote the general health of
the community with highly qualified
primary and preventive health care
services and a professional medical
staff; to do so without concern of
individual’s financial situations.”
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june14
2011
Greetings From Salem: Bill to
Protect 9-1-1 Funds Stopped
Representative Deborah Boone
House District 32
This
session
I sponsored HB
2741, designed to
protect money in the
9-1-1
Emergency
Communications
account, and while
it received wide
support from the
Oregon Emergency Management, Public
Safety officials and organizations, 9-1-1
centers and dispatchers, it still died in the
House Judiciary Committee. For the past
30 years, Oregonians have paid a 75 cent
surcharge on their monthly phone bill for
emergency communication services.
This financial support is critical
to the operation of our local Public Safety
Answering Points, or 9-1-1 centers.
While 60 percent of the revenue collected
from the surcharge is returned to local
jurisdictions, this money funds only 25
percent of their operations. The majority
of the 9-1-1 center operations are paid by
local taxpayers. Thirty-five percent of the
surcharge goes into the Enhanced 9-1-1
Subaccount to be used for the telephone
network, equipment and data maintenance,
and future improvements.
Emerging
technology will allow the provision of
a better enhanced emergency response
system, but upgrades are expensive, and
7
many will not be made without funding
from the Emergency Communications
Enhanced 9-1-1 subaccount.
Six times the legislature has
approved diverting money from this account
to the general fund. And while the governor
vetoed half of those attempts, in the past
decade nearly $20 million has been shifted
from the Emergency Communications
Enhanced 9-1-1 subaccount to fund
other state agencies and programs.
HB
2741 would have prevented lawmakers
from “sweeping” the funds out of the
Emergency Communications Account for
other non-emergency communication uses.
Because of the financial implications, the
Legislative Fiscal Office recommended
the bill be assigned to the Ways and Means
Committee. There were several pieces of
legislation introduced this session to protect
different accounts from being “swept” for
other programs, and all of these bills were
unsuccessful.
Oregon Legislators were also unable
to approve any bills this session relating the
9-1-1 emergency communications. These
included HB 2075, which would have
imposed the emergency communications 75
cent surcharge on pre-paid phones. This bill
died in committee in mid-March. The last
9-1-1 bill with a chance of gaining approval
was HB 2076 to expand the provision of 9-1-
1 service to multi-line and multi-premise
phone systems. When this bill was heard
continued on page 23
Oregon Cultural Trust
Fundraising Challenge at 25%
of June 30 Goal
“Culture’s not stuffy; it’s what
makes life really worth living. Some
aspect of Oregon culture touches
your life every day and deserves
your support. Give! by June 30.”
-- Trust Board Chair Norm Smith,
on KQEN-AM
The Oregon Cultural
Trust has achieved 25% of its June
30 fundraising challenge: Oregon
cultural supporters have already
stepped up with $158,332 of the
$630,000 in additional money
needed to award a record $1.7 million in grants.
Every gift, no matter the size, adds a link to
the net of funding and support that Oregon’s cultural
community, libraries and historical societies,
museums and endangered places, performing arts
and arts education programs, heritage trails and
historic buildings.
Donors can answer the $630,000 challenge
now by mail:
775 Summer Street NE, Ste 200, Salem, OR 97301;
by phone: 503-986-0088;
or online: www.culturaltrust.org.
Donors can monitor the challenge at
culturaltrust.org, where daily updates are posted
to the homepage. Supporters can also follow the
campaign on Facebook (Oregon Cultural Trust) and
Twitter (ORCulturalTrust).
Last summer, the Trust awarded $1.47
million in 102 grants to 57 arts, heritage and
humanities nonprofits; 40 county and tribal cultural
coalitions and five statewide partners. Those
grants, and hundreds of others redistributed by the
coalitions and partners, were made possible entirely
by Oregonians donating to the Cultural Trust.
Yet, in its program for direct funding to
cultural nonprofits, the Trust is typically only able
to fund one in three applications each year, with
awards ranging from $5,000 to $35,000. For 2011-
12, the Trust would like to change that, adding to
the pool of money available for grants, and, perhaps
more significantly, adding to the permanent fund
whose growth ensures the future of cultural funding
in Oregon.
To meet the challenge, the Trust suggests
that donors give at a level that reflects the true
value of libraries and literacy, history and heritage,
creativity and expression in their lives, the lives of
their families, and their communities.
In some cases, that may mean giving
at a level beyond the tax credit limit of $500 for
individuals, $1,000 for couples filing jointly, and
$2,500 for corporations.
Regardless of the amount of the gift, it’s
critical that cultural donors make at least part of
their calendar year 2011 gift to the Trust by June 30.
No other state has a cultural funding
program like the Oregon Cultural Trust. It has
been ranked with the bottle bill and vote-by-mail
as among Oregon’s most forward thinking public
policy measures. Since 2002, 21,000 Oregonians
have participated in this remarkable program,
donating almost $25 million to the Trust, enabling
over $9 million in grants benefiting every county
and building an endowment that now stands at
$15.6 million.
The Cultural Trust is another successful –
and nationally admired -- example of Oregonians’
interest in citizen participation and decision-making.
Donating to the Cultural Trust is an investment that
benefits 1,300 cultural nonprofits in every Oregon
county. The equation is simple: more donations =
more grants.
2011-12 grant awards will be announced by August
1, 2011.
More information: (503) 986-0088 or
www.culturaltrust.org.