S moke S ignals
NOVEMBER 15, 2014
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
INTERNAL OPENINGS
n Tribal History Curriculum
College Intern
Education Administration
Grade: 3
Closing date: Dec. 4
EXTERNAL OPENINGS
n CMA/Secretary
Behavioral Health
Grade: 6
Open until filled
n AFC Caregiver
(on-call)
Adult Foster Care
Grade: 5
Open until filled
n Police Officer
Tribal Police
Grade: 11
Closing date: Dec. 5
n Sr. Administrative Assistant
Engineering & Public Works
Grade: 9
Closing date: Dec. 4
Internal applicants are
1. Current Regular Employee, past
their six-month Introductory pe-
riod, receiving at least a “meets
expectations” on most recent
performance evaluation and
not under disciplinary action
or performance improvement
within the previous six months,
2. Grand Ronde Tribal members
3. Spouse of a Grand Ronde Tribal
member or
4. Parent or legal guardian of
Grand Ronde Tribal member
children
Internal recruitment
For those individuals meeting
minimum qualifications an inter-
view will be given in the following
ranking order:
1. Grand Ronde Tribal members
a) Qualified Grand Ronde Trib-
al members who show they
meet the minimum qualifi-
n Early HeadStart Home Visitor
(on-call)
Early Childhood Education
Grade: 9
Open until filled
n Pharmacy Director
Pharmacy
Grade: 21
Open until filled
INTERNAL/EXTERNAL
n Economic Development
Administrator/Manager
Pharmacy
Grade: 19
Open until filled
cations of the position
during the course of the
interview process will be
given first consideration
for hire and the recruit-
ment process will end
2. Tribal member spouses,
parents and/or legal guard-
ians of Grand Ronde Tribal
member children
3. Current regular employees
Drug-Free
Workplace Policy
For a detailed job de-
scription, please con-
tact the Tribe’s job line
at 503-879-2257 or
1-877 TRIBEGR.
n Effective January 1, 2004, all
employees are subject to random
drug and/or alcohol testing.
n All pre-employment offers.
n When there is reasonable
suspicion.
n Post accident.
www.gr a ndr ond e. o r g
13
SAVE OUR SKOOKUM
It’s time to start thinking about applying for or re-applying for pri-
mary health care coverage. If you do not have Medicare or primary
insurance coverage, you will need to apply for a product through
the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to maintain your Skookum Health
Assistance Program coverage.
If you have Oregon Health Plan or your state’s assistance program,
be sure to contact that plan and make sure your coverage doesn’t
expire. Most state assistance programs require recertification on a
yearly basis.
The Save Our Skookum (SOS) team will begin sending letters to
Tribal members about applying for alternate health insurance cover-
age. Please be sure to make it a priority to reply to our requests in
order to avoid any suspension of Skookum.
If you are eligible for insurance coverage through your employer,
we do recommend that you apply for this coverage. If you have con-
cerns about costs for employer-sponsored insurance coverage, please
contact one of the SOS team members.
Remember, the Skookum Health Assistance Program IS NOT AN
INSURANCE PLAN. It is a payer of last resort, which means any
coverage you may have or be eligible for pays before the Skookum
Health Assistance Program.
We do have Certified Application Assisters on staff at the Grand
Ronde Health and Wellness Center who can answer questions about
the Affordable Care Act and assist in the application process. Please
contact:
Loretta Meneley: 503-879-1359
loretta.meneley@grandronde.org
Sydney Clark: 503-879-2197
sydney.clark@grandronde.org
If you have questions regarding the
Save Our Skookum efforts, please contact:
Tresa Mercier: 503-879-2008
tresa.mercier@grandronde.org
Barbara Steere: 503-879-2487
barbara.steere@grandronde.org
Erica Mercier: 503-879-2080
erica.mercier@grandronde.org
Tauni McCammon: 503-879-1406
tauni.mccammon@grandronde.org
Here is a link to explore ACA online products: www. healthcare.gov n
Hospice seeking Native jewelry
The nonprofit Willamette Valley Hospice in Salem is planning a used
jewelry sale in the spring as a fundraiser and is seeking donations from
talented Native jewelry makers. Those who would like to donate can contact
Hospice board member Steve Bobb Sr. at 503-876-3118. n
Bottled water was distributed in community
WATER continued
from front page
did not need to boil water. However,
it added, “If you have specific health
concerns, consult your doctor.
People with severely compromised
immune systems, infants and some
elderly may be at increased risk.”
The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde reacted to the notice through
the Tribe’s General Manager’s Of-
fice, which advised as a precaution
that people not drink tap water and
switch to drinking bottled water
until advised otherwise.
Bottled water was distributed to
Adult Foster Care units and the
Tribal pre-school. Maintenance
staff taped off water fountains in
Tribal buildings to ensure employ-
ees did not drink tap water.
A copy of the letter was placed
on the Tribe’s Facebook page and
warnings were added to the Tribe’s
website and the Reader Board on
Grand Ronde Road.
Grand Ronde Tribal Housing
Authority staff copied the warning
letter and posted it on each housing
unit to ensure residents were no-
tified and the Tribe’s Health Care
Incident Management Team met
on Friday, Oct. 31, to discuss any
additional Tribal response.
Manager Karl Ekstrom said the
Water Association had 30 days from
the date of the second confirmed
sample indicating coliform bacteria
to notify customers, which would
have been around Nov. 10. Howev-
er, he said, clients were notified in
a letter dated Oct. 29.
“During multiple daily visual
inspections of the spring box, I
believe foreign matter entered the
spring box opening,” Ekstrom said
in the letter to clients. “Adjustment
of a downstream valve was taking
place. This is why the spring box
was being inspected. Valve adjust-
ments have been completed so this
should remedy the problem.”
The spring box is located six miles
south of Highway 18, he added
during a later phone interview.
The Water Association responded
to the coliform bacteria detection by
beginning its annual tank cleaning
schedule earlier than usual and by
flushing the system with chlorine.
The Water Association also was
working with the state Health
Division on proper procedures for
cleaning out the water system.
Coliform bacteria is naturally
present in the environment, the
warning letter stated, and are used
as an indicator that other, more
harmful bacteria may be present,
such as fecal coliform or E. coli.
“We did not find any of these bac-
teria in our subsequent testing,” the
letter states. “If we had, we would
have notified you immediately.”
Ekstrom said that water samples
taken during the first week of No-
vember came back clean and that,
as of Wednesday, Nov. 12, it still
had one more tank to clean and
additional samples to take before
he could declare the water supply
bacteria-free. The Water Associa-
tion received about a dozen calls
regarding the notice, he added.
The Tribe’s Health Care Incident
Management Team identified sev-
eral protocols to follow for future
drinking water incidents, such as
creating a flier with information on
what to do and compiling a “high
risk” list of Tribal members who
should be contacted first if extreme
measures, such as boiling water,
need to be taken.
“The team will develop standard-
ized procedures to assist Tribal
members and the community to
respond to a non-emergency event
like this most recent bacteria de-
tection and a separate set of pro-
cedures to respond to a drinking
water emergency where detection
of E. coli or another contaminant
presents an immediate health
threat to drinking water consum-
ers,” said Interim General Manager
Rick George. n