Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 2003)
Five exchange students spending year in nev er been around guns. She Heppner and lone also explained that guns are a by Kati Wall Be33ie H e tze ll U o í 0 Ne#apaoer L i h n r y Eoiena, UR 97403 Takorn khempila, 16, known to his friends as “Ohm,” on exchange from Bangkok, Thailand, says he is enjoying the country life of Heppner. The United States has alw ays b e e n O h m ’s favorite country and he has been very excited to learn about the culture. One of the m o s t exciting T akom Rhempila things for him so far has been the many different holidays celebrated here. He enjoyed celebrating Halloween, and is looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. A sophom ore at Heppner High School, Ohm says he enjoys biology, because he likes to study about living things, and pre calculus because it can be proven. Outside o f school he enjoys tennis. In Thailand, sports are not included in school and one must play in city teams after school. While here in Heppner, Ohm plans to play with the lone tennis team. Ohm is the youngest child in his family; he has two older siblings, a brother and a sister. His fath er is a mechanical engineer and his mother is a housewife. I lore in Heppner, Ohm is enjoying learning about family life w ith Jamie and Rhonda Helffecht. A n o th er big d ifferen ce Ohm noticed between Thai and American kids is that American kids arc a lot more independent and learn to do many more things on their own. He was also very impressed with how friendly the people are. i A 10 Pages Wednesday. November 26,2003 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Health district in the black this month The Morrow County Health District ended up with $6,052 to the black for October, ending months of sometimes-dramatic losses. The district lost $149,871 in S eptem ber and had a $205,867 loss for the year. The district’s decision to close the nursing home, at the recom m endation o f CEO Victor Vander Does, appeared to have an immediate positive effect on the district’s bottom line as the district’s total operating expenses were down to $421,377 for October, from $456,203 for September, while inpatient nursing home revenue was $44,540 for October, down from $62,810 for September. Vander Does told the board that the last three nursing home residents had relocated by Nov. 5. Also at their Monday night m eeting, the board discussed the establishment of a migrant health program. Vander Does, who had earlier attended a meeting on the subject with other health professionals, said that he believes the program must be a jo in t com m unity-based project in north M orrow County and added that the M orrow C ounty H ealth Department (public health nurse), not the health district, would most likely be the facilitating organization. The board discussed a story that had appeared in the East Oregonian concerning the same migrant health program that Dr. Robert Boss would like to implement through his private clinic in Boardman. In other business, the board: -discussed $30,000 in d o n atio n s p rev io u sly earmarked for the nursing home. Board Chair Larry Mills suggested, and the board agreed, that those monies w ould be best suited if earmarked for establishing a program that may enable the hospital to provide some nursing home-level care. -learn ed that the W illow C reek T errace Assisted living facility now has 12 residents, w ith a potential for 16. Vander Does told the board that with several former nursing hom e resid en ts transferring to the assisted living center, it has become necessary to increase the level o f care at th at fa cility somewhat. -learn ed that two candidates have applied for the position o f director at the assisted living facility, to replace Nancy Vander Does who had agreed to act as interim director. -discussed the food service p ro v id ed at the hospital which employees say has im proved since the hospital no longer has to provide meals (i.e., low salt, low fat, etc.) for nursing home residents, according to Vander Does. He said that the hospital has implemented a new punch card system for employee meals and meal prices may see an increase. -learned from CFO Nicole M ahoney that the number of days bi 1 lings remain in accounts receivable is under 60 days, which is extremely good in terms o f collections. Board member Linda LaRue remarked that when she and Larry M ills cam e on as directors, the time in accounts receivable was over 100 days. M ahoney c re d ited the automated billing system, whereby claims are submitted e lec tro n ica lly , w ith the improvement. -learned that Pioneer Memorial Clinic had 434 patient visits for October with 18 new p atien ts and an additional 94 visits handled by a nurse; Irrigon Clinic had 175 patient visits with 37 new patients and an additional 65 visits to a nurse; Pioneer Memorial Hospital had 30 p a tien ts; the H eppner A m bulance had 16 runs, Boardman Ambulance had 25 runs and Irrigon Ambulance had 11 runs, with an additional two flights. -received a monthly financial rep o rt for the Boardman Health Care Center from Dr. R obert Boss. According to Dr. Boss, his physician’s assistant. Rich Hamblin, saw 308 patients and Dr. Boss saw 240 with the follow ing: P rivate Pay- $11,384.09, C om m ercial In s u ra n c e -$ 2 1 ,5 9 4 .9 1 , M edicare-$17,017, M edicaid-$5,128, Oregon Health Care Plan-$2,696 and Charity Care-$0 for a total of $57,820. -discussed ways to increase community aw areness o f the Irrigon Clinic. Board m em ber L inda LaRue su g g ested th at d istrict personnel host coffee at the Irrigon Bank o f Eastern Oregon and perhaps hand out pamphlets and discuss what the clinic offers during the coffee time. -heard from board member Ken Matlack who was concerned about the shortened Irrigon Clinic hours on Fridays and lack of phone response during the noon hour. Vander Does and Mahoney said that the clinic employees should be staggering their lunch hours and added that business is very slow on Friday afternoons. The clinic closes at 3 p.m. on Fridays. -ap p ro v ed Julie M ikkalo as a new Home H ealth A d v iso ry Board member, and also approved the Home Health Advisory B oard m inutes and recommendations for policy changes by the Home Health Advisory Board. -learn ed that the district has received a $ 12,000 grant from the Office of Rural Health for purchase o f a defibrillator, which is expected to be placed in the Boardman Ambulance. -approved the audited financial statements for 2002- 03. -learn ed that tax p ay ers in B oardm an contribute approxim ately $34,000 a year toward the health district, taxpayers in H eppner, $22,000, and taxpayers in Irrigon, $21 ,(XN). A L L N EW S A N D AD D E A D L IN E : M O N D A Y S AT 5 :0 0 P.M . • Having left her small (45,000 people) hometown in Germany, Sandra Krot/.ek, 17, is adjusting well to the small town of Heppner. A j un i o r at He p p n e r H i g h School, Sandra says she wanted to com e to Ame r i c a to improve h e r En g l i s h , and to Sandra Krotzek learn about our culture and family life. Som e o f S andra's hobbies include volleyball, basketball and violin. Sandra has played classical v iolin for the past six years and is playing with the Willow C reek O rch estra while here in Heppner. Back at home, besides sports and music, Sandra is also active in her church youth group and working with the little kids as well. Sandra has had a chance to enjoy the American culture by attending a Seattle Mariners game w ith her host family, C hris and Kathy doesn't mind the m *+ change of p a c e He p p n e r offers compared to her hometown Vera Pawlowskv o f 60,000. Meeting new people and making new friends has been an enjoyment for Vera. One o f the main reasons she wanted to come to the United States is because it has such an important role in the world. Vera says her main hobby in ( iermany is vaulting, but that she also enjoys track. While here in Heppner she tried her hand at cheerleading, which she says was difficult but fun, and would also like to try softball or track. Vera is the middle child, w ith a 19-year-old older sister and a younger brother who is 14. Vera's father is the director of a sea life center and her mother is in sales. Here in 1 leppner, Vera is staying with Jerry and Terri Gentry and their two boys. One o f the biggest differences Vera has seen betw een Ameri can and German young people is that in Germany you can drink but you can’t drive and here in America you can drive but you can't drink. While here, Vera has also had a chance to try her hand at rabbit hunting. She said this was quite a new experience for her as she had Simone Keisenbauer, 17, is having fun as junior at lone High School. She says she even likes the small town atmosphere, a big difference coming from a Gentian town of about 50,000 people. Si mone said she wanted to come to the United States to experience a foreign country and improve her Skiing, track and basketball are just a few of Simone's hobbies. She was also hoping to play v olleyball this year, but right before the season she dislocated her kneecap and coul dn' t participate. She said that her knee had healed and she will get to play basketball. Here in lone, Simone is liv ing w ith Dave and Debbie Radie and experiencing being an only child. Back in C iermany, she has an 18-year- old sister. Simone's father is a butcher, and her m other worked at city hall and was a housewife. Taking part of the American holidays, Simone helped hand out candy to kids on Halloween and will be experiencing Thanksgiving in Salem with her host parents family. Also joining IHS is Kristina "Tina” Tuzarova, 17. And although lone doesn't have 200,000 people like her hometown in the Czech Republic and she can't quickly run to the store or shopping center to get what she w ants or needs, she says she still really likes it. Tina has been in the states before; her grandparents live in California, and she wanted to come back for school because she really liked learning English. She also had a good friend who participated in the exchange program two years ago and said it was the best experience ever. Volleyball has already given Tina a chance to experience school sports, but she is also looking forw ard to continued page two * Simone Reisenhauer mut Kristina Tu/am va at the O regon ( oast. i NO. 48 Another small town German girl on exchange at Heppner High School is Vera Pitwbwsky. Vera, 16, says she lot harder to get in Germany than they are here in the U.S. Vera was also glad to say that she has been too busy to be homesick and that all the people have been really nice. * VOL. 122 Rauch, before school started. She also said that they would be tra\ eling to Disneyland for Ibanksgiv ing. Back home, Sandra's father is a banker and her mot her is an assistan t pharmacist. She also has three sisters, one of which is her tw in. She also said that she has a dog named Casper. Sandra says she is enjoying her time here in America and hasn't been too hom esick. She says that everyone has been very friendly and she has been really comfortable. v Ao ri /» € / 7 4 r m l / is ç/a | i l i S M • V o CJ i is t- r l l j * W e w ill be c lo s e d T h u rsd a y , N o v e m b e r 27th Morrow Comity (ìr«iin (¿rowers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 fo r form equipment. visit our web t it* at WWW K K fg.iw t
