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
:
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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