Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2004)
SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Health district takes a look at financials M orrow C ounty Health District Chief Financial O fficer N icole M ahoney presented a projected financial picture for the district at the M C H D ’s re g u la r board m eeting M onday night in Heppner. M a h o n e y ’ s projections indicated a slightly more positive future for the d is tric t than had been previously believed. In light of the current situation, MCHD CEO Victor Vander Does recommended, and the board concurred, that the district wait until the general election in Novem ber to put a health district tax increase before the voters. If a levy were put before the v oters in the N ovem ber, how ever, the district would not receive the monies until late the following year. The board had earlier considered placing a levy before the voters in May because o f the d is tric t’s financial condition, fearing that if they waited until November, the district would run out of cash. A May levy, however, w o uld face the “ double majority” requirements and board members were uncertain if a majority o f voters would turn out for a primary election. In painting a more optimistic outlook, Mahoney said that the recent sale of the district’s Boardman clinic would help the financial picture by around $ 140,000. She also said that closure of the nursing home, which occurred last y ear, w ould e v e n tu a lly increase the rate o f federal payments such as Medicare and Medicaid to the district. A new plan to create a “swing bed” program, if approved, w o u ld fu rth e r in crease M ed icare and M edicaid reimbursement. The swing bed program would allow some Iring-term nursing care. Also, if a plan to establish a federal migrant clinic in Boardman were successful, the contract between Dr. Robert Boss and the district would be dissolved because Dr. Boss would no longer be associated with the district. The district currently pays Dr. Boss over $ 140,000 tow ards operation o f his private medical clinic. While the financial situation appears to be looking up. Board Chair Larry Mills, Heppner, cautioned the board that the plans which would improve the district’s financial outlook are not concrete and rem inded them th at bad situations could also occur. “What if we need to buy a new am bulance?” asked Mills. “ What if the x-ray machine goes bad?” He also questioned the viability o f the Oregon Health Plan, which reimburses medical costs for those under a certain income who qualify. Mills indicated that he is still in support o f putting a tax levy before the voters, w hile board m em ber Ed Glenn, Boardman, who has not been in favor o f the levy, questioned if it was still necessary. Previously Glenn had said that he did not believe such a levy would pass. M ah o n ey ’s report included an actual cash balance o f $703,116 for January and p ro je c ted cash b alan ces through November 2005. The projected cash balances vary from a low o f $412,667 projected for October 2005, to a high o f $1,024,571 p ro je c ted for N ovem ber 2004, after the district receives its tax payments. Mills said after the meeting that the district’s goal is to maintain around $1 million in cash balance to ensure that the district can meet its financial obligations. The district’s cash balance dipped to a record low of $60,000 in June 2000, Mahoney reported. The administration and board will continue to explore the district’s financial situation. Glenn lead the board in commending Mahoney for her work in presenting the district’s financial picture. Vander Does also said he had met with an expert on the federal migrant health program and had learned that the application for the program must be turned in by May. He says that M CHD’s role is to be supportive for the vital program, but, as per program requirements, the district will not take any active part in the operation of the clinic. In other business, the board: -learned from Vander Does that the district has received the go-ahead to use a nurse practitioner in the emergency room and will still be able to retain its trauma level status. The use of a nurse practitioner, rather than a physician, will reduce costs for the district. Vander Does said that he has scheduled an in te rv ie w w ith a nurse practitioner from Louisiana next week. -learned from Vander Does that he has completed two searches for a supervisor for the Willow Creek Valley Assisted Living Center with little success. He said that he had one interview scheduled th is w eek. The board discussed expanding the search and the possibility o f n e ed in g to in crease the supervisor’s salary, which may limit applicants. The salary is currently $27,030 annually. -learned from Vander Does and Mahoney o f the implementation o f a new fee collection plan for district p a tie n ts w ith bad cred it histories. Mahoney said that the district has started to collect 50 percent o f the fee up front from some patients who have habitually not paid their bills. Mahoney said that the move would generate some additional revenue, but added, “We’re not talking about a lot o f people here.” -heard that MCHD maintenance head Rusty Estes is still recovering from a broken ankle after falling while shoveling snow off the hospital roof. -le a rn e d th a t th e district lost only $ 11,719 for Jan u ary , co m p ared to $45,514 for the previous month and $300,358 for the year. -received a report from Dr. Boss indicating that he had 206 patient visits for January, while his physician’s assistant had 269 patient visits. Dr. Boss reported that he had the following charges for the month: $8,766 in private pay; $ 2 6 ,8 8 7 in co m m ercial in su ra n ce ; $10,643 in M ed icare; $1,576 in Medicaid; $6,119 from the O regon Health Plan; and provided $1,303 in charity care for a total o f around $55,295. -received a report from the Irrigon Clinic which sh o w ed th a t it had 152 patients for the month o f January, with 21 of those new patients. An additional 33 patients were seen by a nurse. -received a report from Pioneer Memorial Clinic which showed that it had 357 patients in January with 13 of those new patients and an additional 36 patients seen by a nurse. -received a report from P io n eer M em o rial Hospital which showed 14 in patient admissions for January and a n o th er 12 p a tie n ts admitted for observation. “ -received the monthly am b u lan ce report w hich shows 11 runs for Heppner, 21 for Boardman and nine for Irrigon for a total o f 41, with three o f those flights. The report showed 563 total runs for 2003, with 171 runs for Heppner, 241 for Boardman and 151 for Irrigon. -received the board meeting calendar as follows: A pril 26-S chool D istrict Office, Lexington; May 24- Pioneer M em orial Home Health Office, Heppner; June 28-Morrow County Annex, Irrigon; July 26-Ione (location to be determined); August 30- PM Home Health O ffice, H ep p n er; Sept. 27- Ambulance Hall, Boardman; O ct. 2 5 -S ch o o l D istric t Office, Lexington; Nov. 29- PM Home Health Office, Heppner; Dec. 27-Morrow County Annex, Irrigon. All meetings are on Mondays at 7 p.m. Morrow County Museum now open The Morrow County Museum opened on Feb. 3 for the 2004 season. It’s time to get ready for St. Patrick’s w eek en d , the m ural committee’s art gallery opening in our K atherine B isbee Gallery and planning the June 12 D inner/T heater at the Cemetery. The Ag Museum will open in May. The Ag Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday. V olunteers are alw ays welcomed to help in keeping both museums open. A new idea this year is “Adopt a Room” at the museum. There are 11 rooms: the military room, the Native American and wildlife room, the Flood room, the Doctor’s o ffice, M aster bedroom , children’s nursery, dining room, music room, kitchen. I schoolhouse in the park and the bridal area. The museum is looking for volunteers to ad o p t a room and be responsible each month for dusting, mopping, cleaning glassware and completing an inventory sheet on the room. Volunteers can also rearrange, add to, or create new exhibits and make suggestions. This can also be done on the volunteer’s schedule, whether, it be m ornings, days off, evenings, or during museum hours. The museum hopes to get a dozen or so active v o lu n te e rs to help keep everything running smoothly. For those that aren’t able to do physical work, the museum is also looking for volunteer hosts who would greet people. High school students are also more than welcomed to volunteer. This is a great o p p o rtu n ity to b u ild community service hours for scholarship applications. The Museum hours are Tuesday through Friday from 1 -5 p.m., and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The Museum is closed Sundays and Mondays. On holiday weekends the Museum may be open for a few hours on Sundays. For more information stop at the Morrow County Museum or call 676-5524. Order Magnetic Door Signs HERE Heppner Gazette-Times 676-9228 2004 1A Girls Basketball State Championships 1-3 Casco » 3 A February 28 2 - l x Days Creek 3-4 Wheeler B February 28 4 - l x Old Oregon #1 1-2 Casco #2 Ç February 28 5-2x Mapleton 4 -3 Wallowa February 27, 6 p.m. 3 - l x Dufur 5-3 McKenzie L February 28 2-2x Butte Falls 3-3 Condon February 28 l - l x Casco #1 4 -2 Crane 2. February 28, 1 p m 3-2x lone 2-3 Umpqua Valley Christian H February 28 5 - l x Mohawk 2004 2A Boys Basketball State Championships (Him t / J L s o n a r LES SC H W AB ÏÏHBEM 7-3 Umatilla February 26 A 3-2x Kennedy February 28 l - l x Portland Christian 5-3 Myrtle Point February 26 4-2x East Unn Christian F*brjar* 2« 2 -lx Santiam Christian 1-3 Portland Lutheran B Deirdre Allen to join Hair Expressions team D eird re A llen , o f H eppner, is jo in in g H air Expressions as a wom en’s o n l y hairdresser specializing in co lo r and h air design. Allen will b e working the first S atu rd ay of the Deirdre Allen month, beginning March 6. Allen studied at the Edward Wadsworth School in Portland and has been in practice for 14 years. Even after moving to Heppner, Allen commuted back to Portland for three years before deciding to take time off with the birth of her third child. Allen is excited about getting back into the hair b u sin ess and is looking forward to helping women create new and exciting looks for them selves. She will provide free consultations, by appointment, to help clients decide what will work best for them. She said though that she does not do perms, and will not be working with men or children. Allen says one of her favorite parts about being a hairdresser is the interaction with a wide range o f people. She enjoys getting to know new people and is looking forward to growing a strong clientele base. If her base grows, she also said she would consider increasing hfer hours. Allen, and her family, husband David and children Alexandra, 6 Vi, Rachel, 4, and Max, who’s almost 2, have lived in Heppner for a little over five years. To m ake an appointm ent w ith A llen, contact Hair Expressions at 676-5271. Marriage Licenses Feb. 3: David William E vans, 49, H eppner and Deborah Lavon Wells, 40, Heppner. * Feb. 6: Jo sep h William Palmer, 23, Irrigon and G loria Longoria, 28, Boardman. Feb. 10: Jam es S herm an D u p u is, 52, P en d leto n and P au la H ern an d ez T obar, 40, Pendleton. Feb. 11: Juan Manuel Zuniga, 54, Boardman and Maria Esther Alvarez, 51, Boardman. St. Pat’s button now own sale February 26 8-2x Imbler February 28 7 -lx Pilot Rock 2-3 Westslde Christian February 26 6-2x St. Mary's February 28 5 -lx Oakland 8-3 Joseph February 26 7-2x Heppner February 28 3 -lx Regis 6-3 Cascade Christian February 26, 7 p.m. 5-2x Reedsport FHxuary 28 4 -lx Harrisburg 3-3 Western Mennonlte February 26 l-2 x Warrenton February 28 8 -lx Nyssa 4-3 Cnov* February 26 2-2x Dayton February 28 6 -lx Bonanza i T his y e a r ’s St. Patrick’s Celebration button is now on sale at Murray’s Drug, Bank o f Eastern Oregon, H ep p n er TV, Inc. and Gardner’s M en’s Wear. The purchased button has three chances o f winning $ 100 the weekend o f the celebration, March 13-14. Drawings will be held at the Friday night Auction, the KUMA Coffee Hour on Saturday, and at the Trail Band Concert Saturday evening. The button designed for 2004 is commemorating Lewis and Clark Expedition for Heppner’s 22nd Annual C eleb ra tio n . T he little lep rech au n seem s to be spotting the new trail right along with Lewis and Clark. Purchase your button to help fund activities that are carried on for the weekend- all the p ro ceed s go to the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Committee.
