M ili.I m i , U H
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Bessie Welzell Newspaper Librari
I University oí Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Health district approves contract with Dr.
Berretta
pleasantly surprised. We
In other business, the
The Morrow County
Health District Board
Monday night unanimously
voted to accept a one-year
employment contract for
clinic and emergency room
services with Dr. Ed Berretta
as negotiated. The current
contract will be retroactive
to October 2005 when his
previous contract expired
and will be in effect until
October 2006.
Board members
John Gochnauer and John
Murray told the board that
Dr. Berretta has been with
the district for 17 years as a
full-tim e and pifrt-time
physician.
Also at the meeting
C hief Financial O fficer
Nicole Mahoney told the
board that the district ended
February w ith another gain.
The district saw a $22,524
gain for February, a $92,855
gain for January and a
$366,287 year-to-date gain,
for an average monthly gain
of $45,785.
“They
(the
financials) look really good,”
said Mahoney. “We were
generally see a loss in
February.”
At the meeting, the
board approved the low bid
of $43,396 for a new GE
ultrasound machine. The
machine is compatible with
the district’s software and
ultrasound information may
be transmitted electronically.
Vander Does estimated that
the payback for the
ultrasound will be around
tw o-and-a-half to three
years. Another bid for
$59,931 was received for a
Phillips ultrasound machine,
which, according to Vander
Does, included “more bells
and whistles.”
Vander Does also
told the board that two
physicians have indicated
interest in employment with
the district. Dr. Sam Datta.
who is currently employed
with the district, has
announced that he will be
leaving the district’s employ
in May. Dr. Ken Wenberg,
who operates a private clinic
in Heppner, continues to
provide emergency room
coverage for the district.
board:
-received a copy of
the 2006 budget for
Columbia River Community
Health Services migrant
clinic, which is located in
Boardman. The budget
shows income of a $463,000
federal grant, a $70,000
subsidy from Morrow
County Health District, a
$20,000 subsidy from the
city of Boardman. $37,200
in occupational services,
$655,461 in patient income,
including pharmacy and
medical supplies, and $2000
in donations, amounting to
$1,247,661.
The 2006 CRCHS
budget includes $830,880 in
personnel costs and benefits
for em ploym ent o f one
physician (Dr. Boss), two
physician assistants, nurses
and other em ployees. “I
think they were all extremely
overpaid,” said Mahoney.
The budget also includes
$54,000 ($4500 per month),
which is paid to Dr. Boss for
rent of the clin ic. He
operated a private clinic at
the site prior to his
Old pool site being developed
'VOL. 125
NO. 13
10 Pages
Wednesday, March 29,2006
...continued on page 2
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Public invited to discuss Boardman Speedway
Steve Brucker,
Oregon
International
Speedway
Gary Neal,
Port of Morrow
General
Manager
Terry Tallntan,
Morrow County
Judge
A public meeting to
discuss the proposed
Boardman Speedway and
the activity tax will be held
Tuesday, April 4 at the St.
Patrick's Parish Hall in
Heppner at 7 p.m. The public
is invited to attend and have
Each year the
Hospice Foundation of
America (HFA) presents a
nationally recognized
distance-learning program,
live via satellite, to more than
125,000 people in 2000
communities. For more than
a decade, this annual
educational program has
been instrumental in
educating health care
professionals and families on
issues affecting end-of-life
care. It also provides an
opportunity for a wide
variety of professionals-
including doctors, nurses,
ethicists, educators, social
workers and bereavement
counselors- to share and
exchange ideas and obtain
continuing education credits.
This year, HFA's
13th annual National
B e r e a v e m e n t
Teleconference focuses on
“Pain Management at the
End of Life." The
teleconference will examine
the gap between knowledge
and application of effective
pain control in the person
with a terminal condition,
including pharmaceutical,
psycho-social, spiritual and
complementary aspects of
pain
management.
Moderated by Frank Sesno,
Professor of Public Policy
and Comm unication at
George Mason University
and Special Correspondent
with CNN, the program will
be broadcast Wednesday,
April 5, 2006 from 10:30
a.m. to 1 p.m. PST.
Sesno will lead the
panel of noted authorities
that includes: Yvette Colon,
MSW, ACSW, BCD;
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD,
M Div; , W.A. Drew
Edmondson, Attorney
General of Oklahoma;
Kathleen M. Foley, MD;
Kelli Gershon. APN. RN;
William Lamers, Jr., MD;
Brad Stuart, MD; and
D ouglas J. W eschules,
PharmD, BCPS.
This distinguished
panel of ethicists, educators
and hospice experts will look
at laws and regulations that
hinder the practice of pain
management. Discussions
will examine ways in which
health care workers and the
general public can work
together to improve the
societal approach to pain
management.
“Many people tell
us they are not afraid of
death, but are afraid of
their questions answered
about the speedway.
On hand to discuss
the speedway, its economic
impact and the excise tax and
answer the public’s
questions w ill be Steve
Brucker from Oregon
International Speedway,
Terry Tallman, Morrow
County Judge and Gary Neal
of the Port of Morrow.
The m eeting is
sponsored by Willow Creek
Valley
Econom ic
Development Group and Proposed layout of improvements
refreshments will be served.
Work has begun on the old pool site. It is hoped to have it finished by June. The
site will have a sign, river rock, large boulders, pea gravel, a fence and berms with plantings.
The plants being used are low maintenance and are native to the area. This will
include sagebrush, juniper, red hot poker, yucca and Oregon grape. If you have any of
these and would like to donate them, call Jo Anne Burleson at 676-8981.
If you have a suggestion for a name of the site, please drop it by the City Hall.
dying,” states Pioneer
Memorial
Hospice
Coordinator, Robanai
Electric, for over 25 years. support their families with a
Disque. “One of our goals at
Burns, an lone lifestyle that provides
Pioneer Memorial Hospice is
resident
with a long history adequate housing in
to help ease the pain of this
of community involvement, neighborhoods that offer
transition.
This
is the current president of the good education for their
teleconference offers an
lone
Community children to become young
excellent opportunity to
Agricultural
Business adults, and hopefully live and
learn about, and discuss
Organization
(ICABO),
vice thrive in Morrow County,”
difficult issues that may
president of the board of Bums said.
cause distress at the end of
directors
for Columbia Basin
Bums' experiences,
life.”
Electric
Co-Op.
chairman
of
he believes, have prepared
The teleconference
the lone Fourth of July him to adequately fill the
is produced by Hospice
Celebration and a member of position of Morrow County
Foundation of America, a
the lone School Foundation commissioner.
not-for-profit organization, Loyal Burns. Jr.
and the lone Booster Club.
“As a business
which acts as an advocate for
In the past. Burns owner, I have experience
Loyal R. Burns, Jr.
the hospice concept of care has announced his candidacy has served on committees with budgets, em ployee
through ongoing programs for Morrow County for economic development, issues
and
public
of professional education, Commissioner Position 2. budget committees and was communications. I have the
public information and
Burns, a Vietnam a member of the Oregon experience and knowledge
research on issues relating to Veteran, attended Corvallis Electrical Apprenticeship to deal with development
illness, loss, grief and High School and served in Board.
and construction. I am
“The most familiar w ith land use. I work
bereavement. This year the the U.S. Navy from 1966 to
program is sponsored by the 1971. He has been married important issues facing well with others. My
Foundation for End of Life to Betty Bums for 35 years Morrow County are family- experience will aid in the
Care and Purdue Pharma and and together they have two wage jobs, affordable challenges Morrow County
produced in cooperation children and three housing and secure, safe faces now and in the near
with the Adventist grandchildren. He is an schools to educate our future.”
Communications Network, electrician and has operated children. I believe parents
the Association for Death his own business. L.R. Bums are looking for jobs, to
Education and Counseling,
M C G G G R E E N F E E D S T O R E in H e p p n e r
the National Association of
Social Workers and the
NOW TAKING ORDERS
Veterans
Health
Administration (VHA).
Pioneer Memorial Hospice to host HFA’s
13,h annual teleconference
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Bums announces candidacy for commissioner
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