Heppner gazette-times., September 01, 2004, Image 1

Passage of health district levy won't affect
other taxing districts
okay to use other providers.
The Morrow County
H ealth D istrict Board
announced Monday night
that they learned that the
passage o f the proposed
health district tax levy will
not affect any other taxing
districts. Some feared that
the passage o f the MCHD
levy w ould reduce the
amount of money that other
districts get, but that proved
to be untrue.
The district will put
a three-year, 39 cent per
$1,000 levy b efo re the
voters on Nov. 2. The levy
was deem ed n ecessary
because patient revenues,
M edicare and M edicaid
payments and current taxes
do not g en erate enough
monies for the district to
break even.
The
levy
w ill
generate around $292,000
for the district in 2005-06,
$287,000 in 2006-07 and
$282,000 in 2007-08. O f the
to tal $6 m illion M CHD
bud g et, only
around
$6 0 0 ,0 0 0 is c u rre n tly
received in taxes.
In other business at
the re g u la r m eeting in
H eppner,
the
board
approved paying Sheridan
Tarnasky, a p h y s ic ia n ’s
assistant employed with the
district at Pioneer Memorial
Be 3 3 id .Vet zeli
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VOL. 123
NO. 35
10 Pages Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Clinic in Heppner, $20 per
hour for emergency room
on-call services, increased
Tarnasky’s paid vacation to
four weeks, approved one
week o f paid continuing
education and clarified other
issues in her contract.
The
board
com m ended Tarnasky for
her dedication and many
years o f service with the
district and took note of the
num ber o f p atien ts who
consider her as their primary
pro v id er. T arnasky has
worked with the district over
20 y ears in various
capacities. She has been a
physician’s assistant with
the district for the past five
years. Prior to returning to
school to obtain certification
as a physician’s assistant,
she worked for the district as
an RN. Her mother, Ilene
Laughlin, was previously
the P ioneer M em orial
Hospital director.
The district plans to
utilize Tarnasky in providing
em ergency room on-call
serv ice s, as w ell as
physicians and an additional
physician’s assistant who
has yet to come on board.
The district previously used
only physicians to provide
ER care, but has received the
The move should save some
monies for the district, since
doctors receive $45 per hour
for emergency room on-call.
The district will use both
physicians and physician's
assistants on a scheduled
rotating basis. The board
was emphatic in assuring
Tarnasky that she will not be
on call “24-7.” (Tarnasky
was not able to be present at
the m eeting because o f
continuing education, but
was represented by Home
H ealth d irecto r M olly
Rhea.) A back-up physician
will also be available when
the PAs cover ER.
MCHD CEO Victor
Vander Does told the board
that the hiring o f an
ad d itio n al
p h y sic ia n ’s
assistan t is necessary
because the district does not
have enough staff providers
to cover ER. Previously
M CHD
had to pay
additional physicians to
cover ER who were not
under co n tract w ith the
district. This has proven to
be to be expensive for the
d istric t,
e sp ecially
considering its ailing bottom
line.
Currently, besides
T arnasky, o th er d istric t
continued page tw o
NFL referee to speak in Heppner
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Back to school!
Students at HES depart to the buses after the first day of school on Aug. 30.
School is still in the process
o f registering students and
has not posted enrollment
numbers.
lone Schools also
began on Aug. 30, with an
enrollment o f 164 students
in kindergarten through 12,h
grades.
Gazette-Times
closed for
Labor Day
The
H eppner
Gazette-Times office will be
closed Monday, Sept. 6 in
observance o f the Labor Day
holiday. All news articles
and advertisements need to
be turned in by Friday, Sept.
2, at 5 p.m., for the Sept. 8
edition o f the paper.
Heppner Elementary School teacher Karen Clough helps make sure students depart on the right
The o ffice w ill
buses at the end of the first day of school.
resum e norm al bu sin ess
Irrig o n , 355; Irrigon
School for Morrow enrollment o f 2 0 1, down six Elementary- Irrigon, 125; hours on Tuesday, Sept. 7.
County students began on stu d en ts from last year. Sam Boardman Elementary-
Monday, Aug. 30, with an H eppner High School B oardm an, 457; W indy
increase in enrollm ent o f increased by one student to R iver
E lem en tary -
167 students over the end of 213.
B oardm an,
159; and
O th er
M orrow Riverside and Irrigon High
June 2004.
Heppner Elementary County school enrollments S chools- B oardm an and
School started w ith an w ere: A .C. H oughton- Irrigon, 781. The Alternative
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
NFL Referee Steve W ilson
NFL Referee Steve Wilson, o f Spokane, WA, will
be speaking at Heppner High School auditorium on
Saturday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Wilson will be speaking on “Scoring Touchdowns
in Life.”
Wilson was bom and raised in Spokane where he
attended high school at East Valley. He was the captain of
the football, basketball and baseball teams and was also a
member o f the National Honor Society. He was also the
president o f the L etterm an’s Club and ju n io r class
president.
Following high school, Wilson was awarded a
scholarship to Whitworth College where he started all four
years on the Pirate football team. During that time, he was
on the Dean's list and majored in journalism specializing
in public relations.
Wilson serves as executive pastor at Spokane
Valley Nazarene Church and during the fall he referees
football for the National Football League (number 29).
Wilson has met all the great players and coaches around
the league and has been to all the big stadiums.
Wilson is married to Terri, vice-president of the
Spokane Teachers Credit Union.
This event is berng sponsored by the Heppner
Church of the Nazarene. For more information contact the
Nazarene Church at 676-5529.
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