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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 2003)
Health District CEO explains nursing home shut down Be33ie ¿ e tittii U oT 0 r »sj »3pj y-î r L. Sugane, OR 97403 HEPPNER unes VOL. 122 NO. 44 8 Pages Wednesday, October 29,2003 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Willow Creek Terrace alive with activity “Well, we came away w ith answers, but not the ones w e w an ted ,” said C arolyn M c D a n ie l, o rg a n iz e r o f a m eetin g M o n d ay n ight in Heppner that was designed to find w ays to keep Pioneer M e m o ria l N u rsin g H om e operating. At the beginning o f the meeting, she com m ented, “ 1 d o n ’t feel from w hat I’ve read that those are the full options.” The nursing hom e is scheduled to close Nov. 10. M o rro w C o u n ty H e a lth D istrict C E O V ictor Vander D oes to ld an a u d ie n c e o f a ro u n d 50 p e o p le at th e meeting, m ainly seniors, that th e n u rs in g h o m e is n o t financially viable. He said that a com bination o f issues- low census, a sm all population from which to draw. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements that are below costs, and a discontinuation o f a federal program that subsidized the nursing home— contributed to its demise. “Things change,” he said, adding nursing homes are losing residents and numerous sm all nursing hom es have closed. He said that generally th e e ld e rly p o p u la tio n is healthier longer and now only an estim ated five percent end up in a n u rsin g ho m e or assisted living facility. “ Did we have to sacrifice the nursing h o m e ? Y es,” sa id V ander Does. “ It’s very sad.” Vander Does told the audience that PMNH is losing o v er $ 4 5 0 ,0 0 0 a y ear and M CH D could not continue to sustain those losses. Vander D oes said that the M CH D B o ard v o ted to c lo se the nursing home so that the other s e rv ic e s p ro v id e d by the d istric t-P io n e e r M em orial Hospital, emergency services. P io n eer M em o rial C lin ic , lrrigon Clinic and a subsidy to the Boardman clinic, operated by a private physician- could be saved. He said that if the nursing home remained open, the entire district w ould go broke. W hen a m em ber o f the audience inquired as to w hy the district had not cut physicians or their salaries, Vander Does replied that each p h y s ic ia n b rin g s in a p p ro x im a te ly $ 9 0 0 ,0 0 0 a n n u a lly to th e d is tr ic t, compared to an average salary o f a ro u n d $ 1 4 0 ,0 0 0 p e r physician. He also stressed that if Pioneer Memorial Clinic w ere c lo se d , the h o sp ita l would also suffer, because the clinic “ feeds the hospital” with patients as well as for services such as x-ray and laboratory. H e s a id th a t e m e rg e n c y services are subsidized by around $50,000 a year, but if the h o sp ita l w ere c lo se d , prov iding those services could cost as m uch as $100,000. The hospital's critical access designation helps the district financially, he said. V an d er D o es a ls o touched briefly on a plan which could possibly bring som e long-term patients back under the “swing bed program”. Scarecrow Contest winners announced Four of the scarecrows created by Willow Creek Terrace residents pose for the camera. by Doris Brosnan | W illow Creek Terrace has been a hive o f activity for s e v e r a l w e e k s , a n d th e residents now seem prepared for Halloween. Inside and outside, the a s s is te d liv in g fa c ility is festooned with com m on and not-so-com m on decorations that are m eant to entertain young trick-or-treaters w ho “have the nerve” to com e to visit and have a treat. At least nine o f the eleven residents and all the sta ff m em bers plan to be in costumes on Halloween, adding another delight to their visitors’ experiences. T h e T e r ra c e to o k J u d g e ’s C h o ic e in th e S c a re c ro w C o n te s t sponsored by the H eppner C h a m b e r o f C o m m e rc e . M anager Nancy Vander Does e n c o u r a g e s f r ie n d s a n d neighbors enjoying the spirit o f H allow een to have a look at 4 0 0 F rank G illiam D rive. A m ong the “com m unity o f scarecrow s” at the front door are a one-eyed purple people- eater, one loser o f a battle with the ghost-busters, a haven for sp id ers and th e ir asso rted com panions, all created by imaginative residents. W hen Halloween has c o m e a n d g o n e a n d th e residents have put aside the scary stu ff for another year, they will not be putting aside their schedule o f activities. On an ongoing basis, the residents h a v e o p p o r tu n i ti e s to p a rticip a te in a variety o f entertainm ent and pastim es, and m ost o f them also are in v o lv e d m em b e rs o f the W illo w C reek V a lle y community-at-large. On M onday a fte rn o o n s , th e N a z a re n e Church sponsors Bingo games at the Terrace. Vander Does notes that guests are welcome to jo in the residents for these games, at which they might win p r iz e s . S h e a d d s th a t donations o f prizes for the gam es are gladly received, suggesting books, puzzles, stamps, note cards, decorator items and tasty treats as some ideas for prizes. On T u esd ay afternoons, residents and their guests can find a pinochle gam e in the com m on area o f W illow C reek Terrace. The usual one table o f cards can s w e ll to tw o a n d th re e w henever other friends in the valley want to make a party o f the weekly session. A standing invitation has been issued by the residents and staff will help set up for the party and serve refreshments. O n a t le a s t o n e Thursday each m onth, Eve Ironhaw k, a frequent visitor and volunteer at Willow Creek Terrace, is offering residents instruction in crafts. Presently, the participants are creating C hristm as boxes. A lso once m onthly, M eredith W alters accom panies young ladies o f her church group on a visit to the Terrace. Vander D oes reports that the return o f the fall season brings another monthly delight, p r a c tic e s e s s io n s of Shenanigans. The fiddle music is a special pleasure for the residents, and they have also invited the local w o m e n ’s singing group to return at least o n c e a m o n th fo r th e ir practices. “A nd, speaking o f m usic,” Vander Does adds, “w e have a piano now, ju st begging for someone to tickle its keys.” Individuals wishing to play that piano, sponsor an a c tiv ity , o r p a rtic ip a te in visitations at W illow C reek T errace are en couraged to sp e ak to V ander D oes by stopping in or by calling 676- 0004. She observes that the r e s i d e n ts a re e a g e r fo r interesting experiences and visitors... And, they are eager to scare a few trick-or-treaters on Halloween. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Nancy Gochnauer poses with the People’s C hoice Scarecrows Lulu and Gertie Mae. Seventeen businesses/indiv¡duals took the opportunity to create w orks o f art in the form o f scarecrow s during the H eppner C ham ber o f Com m erce Scarecrow Contest 2003. W inner o f this y e a r’s P eople’s C hoice w as Jo h n 's Place. Jo h n ’s Place also took the prize for M ost Elaborate. Judge’s Choice went to W illow Creek Terrace. Other winners included: Funniest- Willow Creek Clinic; M ost W elcoming- Bank o f Eastern Oregon; Most Patriotic- Hair Expressions; and Natural Materials- Artisan Village. The C ham ber encourages everyone to be thinking o f great ideas for next year’s contest. Kids invited to Trunk or Treat at HHS game Everyone is asked to “Trunk or Treat” will be featured during halftim e at the H ep p n er H igh School football game versus Stanfield on Friday, Oct. 31. Gam e time is 7 p.m. b rin g can d y and kids are invited to go from car to car trunk or treating. For more information contact Lizz G reen at 676- 5425. Concerning the status o f the lrrigon C linic, Vander D oes said that the lrrigon Clinic had previously been losing around $10,000 per m onth, but added, " It’s a lot less than that now and it could potentially make money.” In r e s p o n s e to a q u e s tio n a b o u t c u ttin g adm inistration costs, Vander Does responded that he and most o f his staff took a five percent cut. He said that a raise for nurses was required because a nursing shortage left the hospital unable to compete with other facilities, which resulted in the hospital having to h ire m o re e x p e n s iv e su b stitu te n urses. He and M o lly R hea, P io n e e r M em orial Hom e Health and H ospice Director, said that wages are still below those in more urban areas. C o n cern ab o u t the expense o f buying district cars w as also ex p ressed . Rhea replied that purchasing the vehicles ended up being less expensive than paying mileage for employees to use their own vehicles at 36 cents per mile. “By purchasing these little cars, we have been saving m oney right since we got them ,” said Rhea. Her department travels e x te n s iv e ly th r o u g h o u t Morrow and Gilliam counties to provide in-home care. Vander Does told the assem bly that people w ould not support the amount o f tax increase-around 86 cents per thousand-that it would take to support the nursing home. “N o one asked us,” countered G ary R ichards, a m em b e r o f the a u d ie n c e . “ W h a t’s w ro n g w ith supporting our hospital w ith tax dollars?” added Ed Dick. V ander D oes and Rhea replied that the nursing hom e cannot g a rn e r voter s u p p o rt in B o a rd m a n or lrrigon, towns included in the health district, because the people there do not use the services. V an d er D o e s a lso expressed doubt that even south M orrow County voters would be willing to support the n u rsin g ho m e w ith a tax increase o f over 80 cents per thousand. Rhea pointed out, fo r e x a m p le , th a t w h ile individuals say they support the M orrow C o u n ty S c h o o ls, district-wide, only voters in the cities o f lrrig o n and lone passed the latest school bond levy. The school bond levy w e n t d o w n in H e p p n e r, Lexington and Boardman. And health district officials fear the same fate for the health district levy. V a n d e r D o e s s a id , however, that w ith hard public relations work, voters might be w illing to support a 26 cents per thousand tax increase to maintain current services. He said that the district plans to go for the levy in May. He reminded Heppner voters that a vote for the health district levy would not cost them any additional money, because o f compression. People living in the H eppner city lim its, for e x a m p le , w o u ld n o t pay additional taxes because they have already reached their taxing limit People liv ing within the Boardman city limits would pay som e additional taxes b e c a u s e th e y h a v e n o t reached their taxing limit. CHECK T H I S O U T! It's Our First Frost Sale On KEY and POLAR KIN6! Morrow County Crain (irowers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm »quipnwnt. »1*« o«ir wtb rito «*
