Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2010)
Smoke Signals 3 JANUARY 1,2010 Casino delivers truck full of toys to Children's Hospital urn w 10 J Photo by Michelle Alaimo Spirit Mountain Casino Chief Operating Officer and Tribal member Randy Dugger, left, and Chief Executive Officer Rodney Ferguson open a box of toys that was delivered to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland on Monday, Dec. 21. The box was one of many delivered that contained toys collected during Spirit Mountain Casino's annual holiday toy drive. By Angela Sears . Casino Marketing Director Spirit Mountain Casino beat Santa Claus to the punch by delivering a semi-truck full of new, unwrapped toys to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland on Monday, Dec. 21. The delivery marked the second consecutive year that the casino has held its annual holiday toy drive through a three-week customer promo tion that began on Nov. 27. Casino guests and employees participated by donating toys at the play ers' club. Spirit Mountain Casino Chief Executive Officer Rodney Ferguson and Tribal member and Chief Operating Officer Randy Dugger delivered the semi-truck full of toys to Sandy Westfall, Child Life Therapy coordinator for Doernbecher Children's Hospital, at the facility's loading dock. "The toy drive has been an unbelievable success this year," Ferguson said. "In spite of the tough economic times and high jobless rate faced by Oregonians, our guests responded in record numbers to make this season brighter for the kids at Doernbecher. "Last year we delivered five pallets of toys and this year we are present ing 15 pallets - enough to fill a semi-trailer." "Spirit Mountain has always looked to assist surrounding counties and the Portland area through its humanitarian arm, the Spirit Mountain Community Fund," Dugger said. "But nobody expected this kind of over whelming response. The toys were literally pouring in. It's a tribute to the enormous hearts and generosity of our guests and employees." Doernbecher Children's Hospital, at Oregon Health & Science Univer sity, cares for children from Oregon, southwest Washington and around the nation. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is committed to honoring the Tribal traditions of sharing and giving back to the community. Since 1997, Spirit Mountain Community Fund has awarded more than $49 million in grants to non-profit organizations in an 11 -county area of western Oregon and, in the last two years, to Oregon's nine federally recognized Tribes. B Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority Change in Housing Down Payment Assistance Grants The Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority Board of Commissioners recently revised the Down Payment Assistance Policy related to grants to multiple Tribal member households. Contact GRTHA for a copy of the revised policy at 1-800-422-0232, ext. 2401. Free energy kits to Tribal members The Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority is pleased to make available free energy kits to Grand Ronde Tribal members na tionwide. Call for an application, 1-800-422-0232, ext. 2401. ONE PER HOUSEHOLD Attention: Tribal Committee and Special Event Board members The Annual CommitteeSEB Summit will be held on Monday, Jan. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Rogue Rooms at Spirit Mountain Casino. Breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m., followed by presenta tions from staff in Finance, Procurement and others. This meeting is required, so please mark your calendars and plan to attend. If you have any questions, contact Dakota Whitecloud, Tribal Coun cil Relations Coordinator, at 503-879-1309 or dakota.whitecloud grandronde.org. H Tribal member prescription benefit change begins Feb. 1 Based on the recommendation of the Healthcare Task Force, Tribal Council has approved that beginning Feb. 1 all Tribal members utilizing the Skookum Health Plan obtain their maintenance medications from a mail-order facility approved by the plan. There are two facilities to choose from: Grand Ronde Health and Well ness Pharmacy and The Express Scripts mail-order pharmacy. Any medication that you fill every month most likely for blood pres sure, cholesterol, diabetes, allergies, long-term pain management, etc. will now need to be filled by one of the two pharmacies. Medications taken for acute symptoms, such as infections, short-term pain management, etc., will still be able to be filled at your local pharmacy. This plan change will save the Tribe approximately $900,000 per year. The Grand Ronde Pharmacy receives discounts from Indian Health Service to service Native Americans. These discounts are generally 60 percent less than what the health plan has to pay for your prescription to be filled at your local pharmacy for the same medication, and results in a huge savings for the Tribe. In addition, as a convenience for you, prescriptions filled through mail order will be allowed to be dispensed at a 90-day supply if that is what your provider writes for. This will be the case regardless of which mail order facility you choose to use. Tribal members utilizing the Health & Wellness Clinic pharmacy will have their co-pay waived regardless of their location and can either choose to have the prescription mailed or picked up in person. In preparation for this change, we are asking that Tribal members not already utilizing the Grand Ronde Pharmacy have their prescriptions transferred from their local pharmacy. Please contact the Tribal Pharmacy at 503-843-2342, option 1 and then option 0, as soon as possible so Tribal staff can assist you with this process and you can be assured that you do not run out of medication. Once we have transferred or received a new prescription for you, we will have your prescription in the mail within 24 hours. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of the pharmacy staff at the phone number above or Julie Davis, Pharmacy Director, at 503-879-2342 (option 3). D Employee luncheon i '"J " - - Photo by Michelle Confederated Tribes off Grand Ronde employees line up to receive a Christmas card and box of chocolates during the Employee Christmas Luncheon held at the Tribal Community Center on Wednesday, Dec. 1 6. Human Resources Department staff members Sheila Elliott-McDonald, third from right, Cindy Watkins, looking through cards, and Mary Leith, right, distributed the items. Tribal employees were treated to a lunch of lasagna and salad, as well as dessert consisting of various seasonalpies.
