GO! EASTERN OREGON MAGAZINE | INSIDE
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Hospital posts
$1.4 million loss
Blue Mountain offi cials look to cut
reliance on costly contract labor
154th Year • No. 31 • 16 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
DECLARING WAR ON A WEED
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — The Blue Mountain Hos-
pital District ended the fi scal year with a $1.4
million operating loss, but hospital offi cials say
they have a plan to get out of the red, in part
by reducing their reliance on expensive con-
tract labor.
The district’s chief fi nancial offi cer initially
anticipated a loss of only $200,000 for the year,
but that estimated increased substantially after
correcting how he had earmarked a Medicare
reimbursement worth more than half a million
dollars.
Eric Price, the district’s CFO, said the
$665,000 Medicare reimbursement was recog-
nized as revenue rather than an expense reduc-
tion, as it should have been.
Price told the Eagle in a June 23 inter-
view that the district was initially trending at
a $200,000 defi cit heading into the end of the
fi scal year on June 30. He said the main driver
draining the district’s budget was labor costs for
scarce clinical contract workers, such as nurses,
doctors and surgeons, to ensure ongoing patient
care during the height of the delta and omicron
COVID-19 surges that strained the hospital to
its limits.
Ultimately, Price said, the hospital exceeded
its annual labor budget by $4 million. As of June
30, he said, the hospital district had 25 clinical
contract workers, including one surgeon.
However, he added, the hospital is already
beginning to reduce its contract labor force. In
the next few weeks, he said, the hospital antic-
ipates bringing on three to fi ve new local certi-
fi ed nursing assistants. Unlike their out-of-town
counterparts, the new CNAs will not com-
mand the premium wages of traveling clinical
workers.
Nonetheless, according to the hospital dis-
trict’s most recent fi nancial report, labor trended
at more than 40% over the hospital’s June bud-
geted amount, with contracted clinical labor
surging at more than $640,000 for the month.
In addition, all other operating costs were over
budget through the end of June by upwards of
$80,000.
Price attributed soaring supply costs to the
high infl ation seen across all sectors of the
economy. He said freight and fuel costs have
impacted the hospital as well.
Putting the hospital’s budget woes into
context
The hospital district’s fi nancial woes are
BY CLAYTON FRANKE
Baker City Herald
AKER CITY — Jeff rey Pettingill is fortunate that
the rural roads west of Haines don’t harbor much
traffi c. His eyes wander often.
He’s searching for signs of an enemy.
An enemy that, when faced in a one-on-one
battle with Pettingill’s burly 6-foot-2 frame, doesn’t stand
much of a chance. He can win by simply gripping the base
of its green-gray stem, pulling and exposing its annual root,
which is only a few inches long.
But Pettingill is outnumbered — this battle will require a
more strategic approach.
Chemical warfare, perhaps.
Pettingill, Baker County’s weed control supervisor, is fac-
ing Baker County’s newest noxious weed, hoary alyssum,
which he hopes to control before it poses a greater threat to
livestock, crop production, and
native plants.
The fi rst step for Pettingill
is identifying where exactly the
hoary alyssum — which trav-
els mostly by hitching rides on
equipment and the hooves of
livestock — has spread.
That’s what he set out to do
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
on Tuesday, July 26, when he
traveled to a property in the foot- Baker County weed control su-
hills of the Elkhorns to see how pervisor Jeff rey Pettingill mixes
his herbicide, Telar, with water
much of the plant was there.
When Pettingill fi rst saw the and professional-grade ammoni-
weed in the pastures near North um. The added chemicals help the
Rock Creek Road west of Haines herbicide spread out and stick to
in the summer of 2020, he wasn’t the weeds.
certain he was dealing with hoary
alyssum. Its spindly stem and small white fl ower can be tough
to pick out — even with Pettingill’s trained gaze — from
B
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
Jeff rey Pettingill sprays a cluster of hoary alyssum near a county road
west of Haines. So far, the noxious invader is limited to Baker, Wallowa
and Deschutes counties.
Clayton Franke/Baker City Herald
Hoary alyssum (Berteroa incana) is a noxious weed that invades pas-
tures, fi elds and rangelands. The weed can make horses sick and re-
duce profi tability of hay crops.
See Weeds, Page A16
See Hospital, Page A16
Parks & Rec, John Day City Council plan joint
meeting to discuss putting pool bond on ballot
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — The pool is
back in play.
At a meeting on Thursday,
July 28, the John Day/Can-
yon City Parks and Recreation
District board voted to hold a
joint meeting with the John
Day City Council this month
with the aim of putting the
pool bond back on the ballot in
November.
During the May 17 primary
election, the $4 million bond
measure failed after ending in
a tie. Since then, however, a
local political action commit-
tee has been pushing to put
the initiative back on the ballot
after what it calls the inconclu-
sive result in May.
Architects and members of
the political action committee
known as Yes to JDCC Swim
Center made presentations to
the board during the July 28
meeting. The architects went
over proposed designs for a
new pool, and the PAC mem-
bers outlined why they think
the November general election
is a good time to put the pool
back on the ballot.
“This was actually our sec-
ond presentation to the JDCC
Parks and Rec board of direc-
tors,” noted Ashley Armich-
ardy of Yes to JDCC Swim
Center. “We’ve been working
on this for a month now, and
we’re excited to see it moving
forward.”
Fellow PAC member Jesse
Schaefer said the group is sure
the support is there for the
measure to pass, which is why
the PAC is working to get the
bond back on the ballot this
November.
“We don’t know what the
vote is going to be, but the rea-
son we’re asking Parks to put
it on the ballot is that we think
there is enough support to pass
this time,” she said. “In May it
was a literal tie, 802-802. We
know of people who thought
that the choice was between
redoing Gleason Pool or build-
ing a new pool, so we think
now that it’s clear that the
choice is ‘new pool or no pool’
that there will be a majority to
pass the bond.”
The 64-year-old Gleason
Pool, which had been closed
for two years, was demol-
ished in May. The pool site, as
well as the neighboring Glea-
son Park, has been sold to the
state for an expansion of the
Kam Wah Chung State Heri-
tage Site.
Armichardy said she thinks
the general election in Novem-
ber will result in a higher turn-
out than in May and that the
PAC hopes to see a defi nitive
“yes” or “no” result instead
of a tie. Both Armichardy and
Schaefer stressed that most
See Pool, Page A16
Beech Creek Fire closes Highway 395
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
MT. VERNON — Fire crews with the
Oregon Department of Forestry, the Mal-
heur National Forest and Grayback For-
estry battled a 200-acre blaze that broke
out around 1:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1,
and burned on both sides of Highway 395
North near milepost 106B.
The fi re was zero percent contained
as of noon on Tuesday, according to Mal-
heur National Forest offi cials.
Grant County Sheriff Todd McKin-
ley said Tuesday, Aug. 2, that air and
ground crews, along with local landown-
ers, teamed up to limit the spread of the
Contributed Photo
A heavy-duty air tanker drops fi re re-
tardant on the Beech Creek Fire west of
Magone Lake on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.
fast-moving blaze that knocked out a
power line to Long Creek and forced the
evacuation of two homes.
Because of the hard work of the locals
and fi refi ghters, McKinley said, those
who were evacuated did not lose their
homes. McKinley said there had no new
spread of the fi re overnight, with some
“decent rain” that worked in fi refi ghters’
favor.
The sheriff said Oregon Trail Electric
Co-op was working to restore power to
the area.
Highway 395 between Long Creek
and Mt. Vernon remained closed as of
Tuesday.
Grant County Emergency Manager
Eric Bush said private property owners in
the area were contacted on Monday and
were off ered assistance for livestock and
property protection.
Malheur National Forest deputy fi re
staff supervisor Eric Miller said the blaze
was initially assigned two 20-person
crews with six engines, one single-engine
air tanker, plus two additional heavy air
tankers and a helitack crew. In addition,
Miller said the Forest Service ordered
other crews and resources and expected
to have them in place Monday evening or
Tuesday morning.
Miller said people should stay away
from the Beech Creek area west of
Magone Lake, where the fi re was burn-
ing, although the lake itself was still open
and could be reached by other routes.
There’s a lot of other roads through
the forest, Miller said, “so they should just
avoid the area.”