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.