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
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14-01.
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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
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MAYON
4.5-01.
Assorted
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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