Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1979)
The Gazette-Times, lleppner, Oregon, Thursday, August 2, 1979 THREE New Planning Committee Voters head to polls August 9 undertake health survey to cagt third medical levy ballot Members of the newly-appointed community advisory committee health care needs for Morrow County met for the first time Monday at- the Columbia Basin Cooperative with Ron Ellingson, manage ment planning consultant from the Oregon Hospital Association. Ellingson outlined the role the planning group will take in the overall planning process the next few months. He said although a public law was passed in 1973 to encourage hospitals to do more planning, he insisted, "We're doing planning because it's good business." In other counties, Ellingson said surveys found that ex pectations about health care are increasing and people want more sophisticated ser vices. The challenge, he said, is how much patients can afford in medical services and recruitment of physicians and a trained staff. The community advisory committee will be formulating a community questionnaire to conduct a survey of health care needs for community citizens. How broad a service area the survey is expected to consider will be considered at a future meeting. Representatives from Gil liam and Wheeler as well as Morrow counties will have given the committee a tri county outlook on health care. Wheeler County Judge A.F. Lecke says Wheeler County residents in the Spray area have used Pioneer Memorial Hospital for years and when Dr. L.D. Tibbies retired, Spray held a Dr. Tibbies Night. The committee will be looking at a mission statement recently adopted by the Mor row County Hospital Board to determine whether it fits the health care situation of the tri-county area. Hospital Board member Gladys Hobbs, co-chairman of the committee along with board member Dan Sweeney, said the mission statement or statement of health care goals could be revised. When the community sur vey is completed, committee members will analyze and make recommendations from the data received to the Hospital Board which will also be receiving input from two other committees in the same planning process, the manage ment staff planning and medi cal staff planning committees. Ellingson said definite ob jectives for long-range health care will be developed in the planning process. Specifically, the community advisory group, he said, "should be knowledgeable of the community's health care needs and act as a sounding board." You will serve as a communications link with the community. Results of a patient-origin study will be made available to the committee during the planning process, showing where people in the tri-county area are going for their medical services. It has al ready been found that only 19 to 20 percent of the available patients in Morrow County are using the services of the Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Also available are demo graphic statistics and com puter services showing popu lation figures for communities within the three county area. The members will meet again August 20 at 7:30 p.m. to take a tour of Pioneer Memor ial Hospital before the 8 p.m. beginning of the session. Appointed to the committee by the Hospital Board are David Hanna, Jim Bier, Jewel Hager, Kathy Peck, Evelyn Black, Sammie J. Griffin, Linda LaRue, Larry Mills, Don Peterson, James J. King, Gilliam County Judge Leo Barnett, Wheeler County Judge A.F. Lecke, Father Hopp of Condon and Doug Nelson of the Ministerial Association. Morrow County voters head to the polls for the third time this year, Thursday, August 9 to decide on the proposed Hospital tax levy. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. In the special election, voters will be asked, "Shall Morrow County be authorized to levy and collect taxes in the sum of $506,474 outside the six limitation imposed by Article 9, Section 11 of the Oregon Constitution for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1979 to balance the 1979-1980 budget for the county-owned Pioneer Memorial Hospital and North Morrow County Clinic and Ambulance Service?" The explanation of the ballot question goes as follows: "The budget of the county-owned hospital had historically been $506,474 tax will require a levy of approximately $1,125 per $1,000 in assessed valuation and is projected as the minimum necessary to main tain satisfactory in-patient, emergency, physician, nur- levy request submitted was $549,077 or $1.22 per $1,000. The Hospital Board made several changes; hospital pat ient services were reduced from $465,451 to $457,109, physician clinic services were 6 percent limit explained The August 9 ballot for Pioneer Memorial Hospital and the North Morrow Clinic in Boardman may be misleading to some voters. The ballot says the levy amount requested is "outside the six percent limitation" which is not exactly true. The levy amount requested is needed to balance the total medical levy budget for the current year, none of which is covered by a tax base. The Hospital must seek the total amount of their budget each year, with the exception of a small amount received from County general fund coffers. New dentist begins practice in Heppner Dr. Michael W. Moore has assumed the dental practice of Dr. Lee Hazen in Heppner as of July 30. This will be Dr. Moore's first dental practice outside college studies at the Univer sity of California Dental School at San Francisco. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in biophysics from California State University at Los Angeles. He and his wife, Nancy, and their two children, have moved to Heppner and are getting acquainted with the community. Moore's dental office is located on Thompson Street and will be open five days a week, Monday through Fri day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Special Medical levy vote urged... Cont. from page 1 County Assessor Sweek told the Gazette-Times Monday that should the third levy vote fall, Sweek has two options. He could postpone overall determination of the county's tax statements until a fourth levy vote if recommended by the Morrow County Court or send out tax statements on all taxing districts and send a later notice when information is received on the hospital levy. Sweek said tax statements may be late this year anyway because of statewide appeals by Pacific Gas and Electric PGE, Union Pacific Railroad and Pacific Gas Transmis sion, which are scheduled for hearings in September. The mailing date might not be until after November 1 for the taxation year of July 1 to June 31st. The assessor said it is against the law to tax for two levies in the same taxing year. Nelson was asked by Orville Cutsforth why the effort failed to obtain a hospital district. The judge said one council voted against the petition and it was tabled in Lexington and lone. Thank You ! I would like to use this method of saying thanks to all my customers over the past years while I was in business in Heppner-Service Station, Motel and most recently your Sears Catalog Merchant. After some 30 plus years in business in Heppner, I have decided it is time to quit. I have sold my Sears Catalog Store to my son-in-law and daughter, Kit and Shirley George. I encourage all my customers to drop in and say "Hi" to Kit and Shirley. I know you will enjoy doing business with them. I wish them the same success I have had over the years. Again, thanks to everyone-you have been great customers. Jack Van Winkle L- times may be arranged. Dr. Moore is a golfer and tennis player and would like to learn how to hunt and fish locally. balanced by a combination of patient revenues and tax levies. Tax support is necessi tated by the fact that patient generated revenues will not be sufficient to pay escalating costs for supplies, materials, equipment, personnel and im provements, dictated by the desires of the consumers of health' care, regulatory agen cies and the cost of physician recruitment and services. The sing home care services and North Morrow County Clinic and Ambulance Service. The only funds for the hospital contained in the county's proposed budget are those being voted on in this ballot." This levy request is marked by several changes instituted after the failure to gain a simple majority by five votes in the second levy vote Tuesday, June 26. The second dropped from $94,976 to $56,232, thereby lowering the bottom line figure of the budget, $2,?00 was budgeted for tental of the administra tor's house balanced on the expenditure side of the budget in salary and increasing total administrative salaries to $58,774 from $56,074; total lab and x-ray budgeted items were increased to $72,949 from the previous $68,949, physician recruitment was reduced by $5,000 from $25,000 to $20,000, the full time physician's salary was dropped from $50,000 to $37,500 and total physician services lowered from $139,588 to $88,449. Also after the second levy vote, Hospital Administrator Bob Byrnes announced his resignation effective October 31, citing "the complex politi cal situation." One of the board members, Dan Swee ney, called for a change in administration of the hospital a week before the announce ment. County Court members and Hospital Board members are concerned that if the third levy vote fails to come up with a simple majority, Pioneer Memorial Hospital, which was first built in the 1950's might close for lack of funds to operate. Board member Ed Dick said the levy is the hospital's tax base and should the vote fail, it could not operate on a deficit. Cont. on page 8 vamc iowr mim' awmm v.w i tm ins. : i a h l rif j , mrr mm. is! USDA CHOiCE! tivc ism I Q Arm Cut I i Pot 1 i I Roast JpL b R lb- 6 IB BLADE CUT Of toast cjiiJ . c ill i: i nti 'Aii il, ib. HUNT'S Sg) Ketchup Sliced Bacon 14-01. f f ARMOUR BACON I i2-oi. : i 'I I III 8-0i. KRAFT Salad Dressing 69 WESTERN FAMILY Pork n' Beans Big 30-oz. Can 2SDSr in ii n mm HAUEY Tang Salad Dressing Quart 01j H2 Pacific Friend Tiny Shrimp NABISCO Bag Snacks I Regular Price Tony's $ PIZZA I n j Corn l ii, i M i nil rr eft29 p MAYON 4.5-01. Assorted ft ivianacirin Orange Valencia g Oranges Seedless Grapes 691- Cants i Prices Effective Aug. 2-3-4 Thursday, Friday, Saturday Groc. 676-9614 Meat 676-9288 Cucumbers
