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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2003)
Town of Lexington storage building now a reality Se33ie .ietzôll U o f J Ne*apa i r i Eu^a-i.', OR 9 / 4 - 3 : ; Volunteer get ready to go to work on new storage building Lexington w ill finally get its new' storage building. Several years ago, the council o f the tim e asked through the N eeds and Issues Inventory for a g ran t for an equipm ent storage building. The Tow n’s e q u ip m e n t a n d s u p p lie s needed a hom e. T he B aker- M orrow Regional Partnership and M orrow County Tippage Fees each granted the Town $3,150 tow ard the project. T he funds from the Baker- M orrow Regional Partnership are from a grant from Oregon S ta te L o tte ry th ro u g h the R egional/R ural Investm ent F und a d m in iste re d by the State o f Oregon Economic and C o m m u n ity D e v e lo p m e n t D e p a r tm e n t. L a s t y e a r ’s budget committee also agreed VOL. 122 NO. 14 8 Pages Wednesday, April 2,2003 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon MCHD shows dramatic loss for February, but March outlook good The M orrow C ounty Health District Board learned at their regular board m eeting M onday night in B oardm an that the district su ffered a p a rtic u la rly bad m o n th in February, show ing a loss o f $ 130,383 for the month. C E O Victor Vander Does and CFO Nicole Mahoney attributed the loss to a dow nturn in patient revenue and an increase in contractual adjustments, which are negative adjustm ents to M e d ic a r e p a y m e n ts , am ounting to a loss o f over $ 148,000 in operating revenue from th e p rev io u s m onth. J a n u a ry 's fin a n c ia l rep o rt showed a loss o f only $ 1,724. V ander D oes and M a h o n e y sa y th a t so far M arch’s financial report looks very good and revenues are expected to m eet or exceed those reported for January. O p e ra tin g re v e n u e s w e re $432,911 in January w ith a non-operating gain o f $6,536, with operating expenses listed as $441,172. Total operating revenues in February w ere o n ly $ 2 8 4 ,6 1 4 , w ith an additional non-operating gain o f $ 6 ,6 6 7 , c o m p a r e d to o p e r a tin g e x p e n s e s o f $421,664. In o th e r b u s in e s s , b o ard m em b ers d isc u sse d im plem enting a sort o f tax rebate for hom eow ners in the district. D etails o f the plan have not yet been firm ed up, but basically, a hom e ow ner liv in g w ith in the M o rro w County Health District would receive a discount in the cost o f medical services at M CHD facilities, proportionate to the am ount o f property taxes he pays, if he presents p ro o f o f hom e ownership and proof o f paym ent o f property taxes. T he credit w ould be applied against the portion o f the bill which is not covered by other p a y e r s , s u c h a s h e a lth i n s u r a n c e , h e a lth c a r e payment programs, M edicaid or M e d ic a re . M CHD d ire c to rs b e lie v e th a t th e g o o d w ill g e s tu r e m a y encourage district patrons to “ sh o p at h o m e ” fo r th e ir medical services. A lso at the m eeting the board: - d is c u s s e d th e ProShare program in w hich federal m onies are distributed to the states and earm arked f o r r e im b u r s e m e n t to M edicaid nursing facilities, such as P io n eer M em orial N u rsin g H om e. H ow ever, with the dram atic shortfall in state revenue, more and more ProShare m onies are being used by the state o f O regon to offset losses in other areas, s u c h a s e d u c a tio n , fo r exam ple. Vander D oes said that the Oregon Association o f Hospitals and Health Systems, o f which M CHD is a member, p la n s to te ll th e O re g o n L egislature that unless the nursing facilities receive at least $6 m illion o f the ProShare funds, they will turn down the federal program and the state will lose an additional $70 in ProShare monies. -se t a b o a rd g o a l setting m eeting for M onday, April 14, from 3-6 p.m. at the Bank o f Eastern O regon in Heppner. - le a r n e d of a requirem ent by the H ealth In su ra n c e P o rta b ility and A ccountability Act (HIPAA) that all em ployees and board m em bers attend training in protecting patient privacy and received notification o f the training dates. - h e ld an in itia l executive session concerning upcoming union negotiations. - r e c e iv e d th e following m onthly report for February: -T h e a m b u la n c e report show ed that H eppner had 11 total am bulance runs, for $9,044 in revenue and $8,721 in expenses for a gain o f $322; B oardm an had 17 runs for $8,140 in revenue and $ 6 ,1 3 9 in e x p e n se s fo r a $2,000 gain; and Irrigon had 10 runs for $643 in revenue and $3,379 in expenses for a $ 2 ,7 3 6 lo s s ; lo n e a n d L exington broke even w ith re v e n u e s a n d e x p e n se s o f $232 and $237, respectively. - Pioneer M em orial Clinic had a total o f 382 visits w ith p r o v id e r s ( d o c to r s , physician’s assistants) for the m onth, w ith 16 new patients and 59 visits w ith a nurse for $ 3 2 ,1 5 3 in r e v e n u e s and $44,315 in ex p en ses for a $ 1 2 ,1 6 2 lo ss; th e Irrig o n Clinic showed 166 visits with p r o v id e r s ( p h y s i c i a n ’s a s s is ta n ts ) , w ith 21 n ew patients and 20 visits w ith a nurse for $ 12,834 in revenues and $22,345 in expenses for a $9,511 loss. No information on patient num bers, revenues and expenses is supplied for the Boardman Clinic, which is o p e ra te d p riv a te ly by Dr. R obert B oss and subsidized by the M C H D . M C H D paid Dr. B o ss $ 1 0 ,9 8 0 fo r the month. -P io n e e r M em o rial H ospital had 14 in-patient adm issions (com pared to 23 in January). Softball Clinic rescheduled The Heppner Softball Clinic has been reschedule to Sunday, A pril 6, from 1-4 p.m., at Bob Kilkenny field. The clinic is open for ages 8 to 18. M ajor and minor coaches are welcom e. There will be a $ 10 fee that goes to the Heppner H igh School softball program. For more information contact Kim G utierrez, 676- 5052 or P etra E lg u ezab al, 676-5774. Girl Scouts to sell cookies again in Heppner H eppner G irl Scout Troop #400 will be selling cookies again this Saturday, April 5, at Central Red Apple and the Post Office. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. th e re w as a need and budgeted for the building. But com e January 1, 2003, tw o new C ouncilors and a new M ayor came on board with the grants almost expired and the project on hold. W ith determ ination and planning, Jim N elson, a n ew c o u n c ilo r, w a n te d to m ake the building project a reality and the council gave him the go-ahead. B ecause the Town was show ing progress, the Baker-M orrow Regional Partnership extended the grant deadline to April 30. Since th e n , th e la n d h a s b e e n surv eyed and prepared for the 3 0 ’x30' e x p a n d a b le , steel building. The Tow n's people w ill be h e lp in g e re c t the building due to arrive this week. T h e T o w n ’s n e w m aintenance person. M ark Andrew s, w ill be a very busy person organizing the storage o f equipm ent and supplies very soon. T h o se w ho help ed with this project financially and w ith v o lu n te e r la b o r a re Lowbush Engineering, J & G Services, M iller Excavating, R o g e r B ritt, R usty B ritt, Lexington M achine W orks, M o rro w C o u n ty G ra in Growers, Coppock Surveying and Sim son Steel B uildings and the to w n ’s people who volunteered their tim e. The Town can be proud o f this achievem ent located on Clay S t. C la y S tre e t w ill be improved soon. Lexington well receives needed improvements L exington has been working on updating its water sy ste m for s e v e ra l y e a rs. H o w e v e r, w h e n th e S afe Drinking Water inspection was m ade last year, stating the airport reservoir needed to be taken off line for potable water, things got even more critical. E arlier councils had r e q u e s te d f in a n c ia l h e lp through the Needs and Issues Inventory for w ater updates. The Baker-M orrow Regional P a r tn e r s h ip a n d M o rro w County Tippage Fees granted m onies for the w ater system u p d a te s a n d th e b u d g e t com m ittee made certain there w ere m atching funds. The Baker-M orrow portion o f the grant is funded in part with a grant from the O regon State Lottery through the Regional/ R u ra l I n v e s tm e n t F u n d adm inistered by the State o f O r e g o n E c o n o m ic a n d C o m m u n ity D e v e lo p m e n t D ep artm en t. T he tim e for making the plans and using the grants was running out. Jim M cE lligott, PE, w as contacted for help w ith th e p la n s n e e d ed and bid proposal. L exington Pum p w as the accepted bidder for the c em etery w ell update. Town's people helped prepare the well house and grounds for th e p ro je c t. Sam B ellam y orchestrated a successful one- w eek w ell renovation. The building walls were removed w here needed; the pum p was pulled; the well ream ed and flushed; new electrical wiring installed, inside and out; and a new 60 hp pum p and pipe installed in the well. Building restoration will be com pleted soon. The Tow n’s people did an excellent jo b o f conserving w ater during the w eek-long process. T h e T ow n is v e ry grateful for the financial help fro m th e B a k e r-M o rro w Regional Partnership and for the M orrow C ounty Tippage Roger Schoonover puts the final touches on the electric work he did on the Lexington well Sam Bellamy (right) and Mark Andrews work on the pump Fees so the w ater updates can be accomplished. There is still m ore to be done, including a p o ssib le b ackup w ell, but p la n s m u st be m ad e a n d accepted before the projects can go on. It is people working to g e th e r th a t m ak e th e s e projects happen. Rem em ber, in small towns, if the council d o e s n 't do it no one does, as most small towns can't afford city managers. The f o llo w in g contractors and suppliers who helped m ake this a reality include: Lexington Pum p, Larry B urd Well D rilling, C B E C , Roger Schoonover, G rain G row ers. P ettyjohn’s B uilders Supply, Lexington Machine Works and Low bash Engineering. Get Yoor Lawn Thatcher and Front Tine Garden Hototlller Rentals Here I Morrow County Crain Growers « Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 for farm equipment. visit our w tb sita at www n K ff rwl
