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
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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
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