I
Medical board to look at loan option
Hospital shut down could be averted
HEPPNER
Over 300 people attend medical board meeting at the Elks Club
imes
VOL. 117
NO. 38
8 Pages
Wednesday, September 23,1998
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
lone’s water tank gets a cleaning
Inside lone's water tank
The city of lone's w ater tank
was getting a cleaning Saturday.
Underwater Services, a
company from Klamath Falls,
sent one of its divers into the
tank with a large vaeumn to suck
the sediment out.
The tank had not been cleaned
since about 1983, and sediment
from the water supply had settled
on the bottom of the tank.
A camera attached to the diver's
helment sqpt video back to the
company's trailer where workers
could w atch the cleaning process.
The Morrow County Medical
Board voted Tuesday night to
seek emergency funding in an
effort to avert shut down of the
Pioneer Memorial Hospital and
nursing home.
News of a financial crisis at the
medical district which could
cause the shutdowns came to a
head last week, and prompted
over 300 people to attend the
board meeting. The meeting was
first scheduled at the St. Patrick's
Senior Center, and was then
moved to the Heppner Elks lodge
to accommodate the overflow
crowd.
An overview of the district's
financial woes showed only
enough money to keep operating
for the next three weeks.
The district is reportedly losing
S I,500 per day, and only had
enough money to meet the
payroll one more time. The
district has an $80,000 payroll
every two weeks, said chief
financial officer Dan Grant.
Grant said the district has had
money problems for quite some
time, but has finally run out of
cash to operate.
An operating loan has been
offered by the Bank of Eastern
Oregon that would keep the
hospital open for the next 90
days, and district official were to
meet over the next several days
to work out details of the loan
package. Grant said $250,000
should be enough to keep the
district solvent till the end of the
calendar year.
The money would be paid back
when the district's taxes start
coming in in mid November.
The district receives about
$525,000 per year in property
taxes.
The infusion of cash would
give the medical district board of
directors time to decide what to
do about the financial situation in
the district.
Larry Mills, of the hospital
foundation, said the foundation
had agreed to provide funding up
to$20,000 for the hiring of a
consultant to study the district's
financial situation and the
services it provides.
The loan would stop the shut
down of the hospital facilities in
Heppner, which if ever closed
would never be reopened,
hospital official say. Because of
its age the hospital would never
be relicensed.
Reasons for the financial
crunch seem to point to several
things:
decrease
in
reimbursements, poor billing
procedures, a drop in patients at
the hospital and nursing home,
and expenditures
of cash
reserves on items which should
have been purchased through
borrowing . Long term debt was
low and not a factor in the
financial crisis, Grant said.
The district's billing procedures
were criticized as being two
slow, causing a slow down in
cash flow.
It w as also pointed out that the
new Irrigon clinic and an new
ambulance
were
earlier
purchased with cash when loans
should have been used.
The drop in patients at the
hospital was attributed to a recent
period of time when the local
doctor was not admitting people
to the Pioneer Memorial
Hospital. It was pointed out that
admissions should pick up now
with doctors working in the area.
Recently hired hospital
administrator Susan Brock, was
no; as optimistic about the
hospital and nursing home as
some. Brock believes that the
population base of the hospital
area is less than 5,000 and might
not be enough to support a
hospital. Brock doubted that the
financial situation at the hospital
could be "turned around" in 90
days.
Brock, w ho has worked for the
district for only about two and
one half months, has hired a
professional accounts receivable
company in an effort to improve
the districts collections and cash
flow . Several members of the
audience at Tuesdays meeting
commented on the slowness of
the billing process from the
medical district.
She stressed that situations are
changing in health care, and
especially rural health care, that
make it harder and harder to
operate small hospitals like
Pioneer Memorial.
Brock has pointed out the
hospital no longer performs
many of the more lucrative
procedures that had provided
money in the past, and that
coupled
with
lower
reimbursements
from
government agencies, and fewer
patients, has put a squeeze on the
hospital it may not be able to
withstand.
The hospital on average has
only a little over one half patient
per day. The nursing home has
only 18 residents in a 32 bed
facility. Medical district board
members and officials were not
sure why the nursing home had
taken a drop. In the past there
has been a waiting list to get into
the nursing home.
It was also announced that the
medical district is attempting to
sell its dental clinics, a move
which would also raise needed
cash.
Another meeting has been
scheduled for Monday. It is
expected to be at the senior
center in Irrigon. but the exact
place was not determined by
press time.
News deadline
5p.m. Monday
HHS homecoming this Friday
Football
"experts”
match wits
Who knows the most about
football? By the end of the
season the Heppner Gazette
hopes to have that question
answered.
The GT has assembled a team
of football "experts" to make
college and professional picks
during the season, and at the end
we shall see who picks the most
winners.
The panel includes: Chris
Sykes, Greg Grant, Butch
Laughlin, Larry Mills, George
Koffler, Molly Rhea, Dennis
Stefani,
Les Payne,
Kim
Gutierrez, Rick Paullus and Stef
Jensen
This week's picks are on page
8 .
Classes compete against each other in a noon-time homecoming activity at Heppner High School
Tuesday
Cleanup work monitored by camera
O il Change and Lube now available
'
for ears and pickups
Fluids checked • Repair recommended • Cenex oils • Fleetguard filters
,
Call for your appointment ask for Bruee
M orrow C o u n t y G rain G rowers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1 -800-452-7396
fo r farm equipment, visit our web site at www
mcgg net
Heppner High School is
celebrating homecoming week
Sept. 22-25.
Activities include: color day
on Monday, with a competition
between classes and an egg
blow contest; 80’s day on
Tuesday,
with
guy
cheerleader/girl football player
dress-up contest; a hillbilly day
on Wednesday with a "diaper
rash" contest; and blue and gold
day Thursday w ith a tug of war.
Thursday’s activities also
include a parade downtown
beginning at 2:40 p.m.; a pep
assembly at the Shamrock at the
comer of Mam and Willow'
streets downtown; and a bonfire
at 7:30 p.m. at the fairgrounds.
The events culminate with the
football game against Wahtonka
on Friday beginning at 7:30
p.m. and the homecoming dance
to follow from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The homecoming court
includes:
senior
class
princesses, Jill Barber, Janelle
Healy and Amber Peck; senior
class princes Jared Eckman,
Derek Gunderson and Shane
Matheny;
junior
class
princesses Casey Ingraham and
Allison Sykes; and junior class
princes Corey Miller and Jake
Roy.
Junior pnnce and princess are
Colter
Raver and Tom
Lovgren.