Health district
hires nurse
practitioner
Ililiiliiililiilllmiillilinll
Bessie W et/ell Newspaper Librarv
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
Lexington considers moving
city hall and lire department
Nurse practitioner
Sue Peeples has been hired
by the M orrow C ounty
Health District as a m id
level provider.
P eeples w ill take
o v er as p ro v id e r at the
Irrigon Clinic in January,
following the resignation of
physician’s
a ssistan t
Terry
VOL. 125
NO. 48
8 Pages
Wednesday, November 29,2006
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Helping kids make gingerbread houses
Heppner High Honor Society members Whitney Matthews (left) and Justin Delveaux
(far right) assist Heppner Chamber Manager Terry Baker and Kathy Marick in helping
kids make gingerbread houses at the chamber-sponsored activity at the Willow1 Creek Diner
Sunday and Monday.
Health district receives good audit report
The Morrow County
H ealth D istrict received
glow ing re p o rts from
Konrad Capeller, accountant
with the Michael R. Bell &
C om pany,
PLLC,
acco u n tin g firm at the
d istrict's regular meeting
held M onday night in
Heppner.
A ccording
to
Capeller, the current audit
was one o f the best the
district has received and he
credited CEO Victor Vander
Does and C hief Financial
Auditor Nichole Mahoney
with “immaculately kept”
records. He also said the
district is “getting better
fiscally,” “has stabilized and
is g ettin g h e a lth ie r and
healthier.” He attributed the
district’s health partially to
Pioneer Memorial Hospital's
d esignation as a critical
access hospital, which allows
the district to receive cost-
based reimbursement from
Medicare, rather than a set
am ount the governm ent
entity previously dictated,
and the passage o f the
d istrict's three-year bond
measure.
Michael R. Bell &
Company did not present an
official audit report that
evening, however, because
the district was surprised
recently by an obscure clause
in a loan covenant which
req u ired
a $5 3 0 ,0 0 0
paym ent to the Bank of
Eastern Oregon. The bank
worked with the district to
resolve the issue, but the
payment was* mandated by
regulations. The district will
not be required to pay taxes
or penalties. Board Chair
Larry Mills credited BEO for
“bending over backwards to
help resolve the issue.” “We
appreciate the cooperation
from the bank," said Mills.
“George Koffler was very
c o o p e ra tiv e ,”
said
Mahoney, who added that
the $530,000 obligation has
since been paid. Capeller
said the final audit will be
presented shortly.
C a p e lle r
also
presen ted a program on
“swing beds" which would
enable Pioneer Memorial to
use hospital beds for long
term as well as acute care.
The swing bed designation
w ould
im p ro v e
the
reimbursement rate for long
term care d ram atically .
When the hospital previously
operated the nursing home,
the Medicare reimbursement
rate was around $90 below
co st per n u rsin g hom e
patient per day, which the
district could not sustain. “It
w ould be a help for the
community (if the swing bed
program was in effect),” said
p h y s ic ia n 's
a ssista n t,
S h erid an T arnasky. The
swing bed program has to be
approved through changes in
administrative rules by the
O regon
L e g isla tu re .
C a p e lle r stre sse d that
O re g o n 's portion o f'th e
reim b u rsem en t
w ould
remain the same. "Oregon
pays really stingy,” says
Capeller. “(If the program
was in effect) The state of
Oregon won’t pay more, but
it will be a hero for saving
nursing homes."
Also at the meeting,
Mahoney reported that the
district saw a $43,000 gain
for October.
continued page 2
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
\
\
Anderson.
In
the
meantime,
she
is
filling in
a n d
seeing
patients at
t h e
P io n e e r
Memorial
Clinic in Heppner.
P e e p les, 52, has
been em p lo y ed at the
O regon H ealth Sciences
School o f N u rsin g at
Eastern Oregon University
at LaGrande for the past 13
years. She has bachelor's
and m a ste r's degrees in
nursing and is certified as a
family nurse practitioner and
in midwifery.
As
a
nurse
practitioner, Peeples can
operate independently from
a physician and can diagnose
and treat illnesses, order lab
tests, order x-rays and other
p ro ced u res,
p rescrib e
m e d icatio n s and refer
patients to other physicians.
E sp ecially in terested in
prevention and community
assessm en t
pro g ram s,
Peeples says that one of her
goals is to help patients be
more healthy.
O rig in a lly from
P e n n sy lv an ia, Peeples
comes to Morrow County
from Union and says she
especially enjoys “ rural
health and rural health
promotions”. She recently
returned from a trip to South
Africa where she served as
a consultant to an HIV/
AIDS project. “It was very
sobering,” says Peeples,
who added that as many as
29 percent o f the South
African people are infected
with the HIV/AIDS virus.
Heppner
residential
lighting contest
announced
Town of Lexington
officials discussed moving
the tow n hall and fire
d e p artm en t at a sp ecial
public hearing held Monday
night.
The discussion was
part of the town council's
e ffo rts to adopt a p re
disaster plan formulated by
the
co unty
p lan n in g
department.
Monday's discussion
focused around an idea to
apply for federal grants to
purchase another building
for city hall and buy land for
construction of a new fire
hall.
A household survey
asking for citizen input on
the disaster plan has been
circulating in Lexington. The
front page o f the survey
states, “ ...w e received a
report and revised maps
from FEM A (F ed eral
Em ergency M anagem ent
Agency) ...that show our
Town Hall/Fire Dept, is not
only in the floodplain, but is
in the floodway- and is in an
area designated as a ‘Special
Flood Hazard Area’. So the
handwriting is on the wall;
sooner or later Lexington
will be forced to deal with
this - and the council thinks
that dealing with it w ill be a
whole lot less painful if we
can obtain some federal aid."
L exington M ayor
Val Doherty, who lead the
m eeting M onday, said
federal money would be
available to move city hall/
fire department out of the
flood area. She proposed
that the former Kingdom
Hall in Lexington may be
available for purchase, and
the Morrow County Grain
G ro w ers
w ould
be
approached about selling the
lots behind the hall on which
to build a new four-bay fire
department.
Doherty said if the
town’s grant were approved,
the federal g o v ern m en t
would pay up to 75 percent
of the expense, and the city
would have to come up with
25 percent. She said the
city’s contribution could be
donations of property, labor,
materials, equipment usage
C ity look s at form er
Kingdom Hall for new town
hall
or other in-kind services.
Doherty also mentioned that
the city had $10,000 in a
savings account that might
be available.
Doherty urged the
town to move quickly with
the revised county plan since
grant applications for the
2007 fiscal year must be into
the state by Jan. 16. "This
means we have to have our
plan adopted by Nov. 28,”
she w rote in the town survey.
The tow n council
was set to meet Tuesday,
Nov. 28. (a fte r G -T
d e ad lin e) and c o n sid e r
finalizing the new disaster
plan, which better reflects
the needs of Lexington. The
council did not adopt the
o rig in al co u n ty
plan
presented at the Nov. 14
m eeting, “ ...th e county
w anted us to pass a
resolution adopting it at our
N o v em b er 14 co u n cil
m eeting. The ‘Lexington
Annex' section of the plan is
woefully inadequate-and in
some respects inaccurate,”
the m ayor told tow n
residents.
The
d istrib u te d
survey and Monday’s public
hearing would help change
the county prepared disaster
plan. The plan is instrumental
when applying for federal
pre-disaster plans. Input
from the survey and nearing
would be presented to the
town council Tuesday night.
D oherty said the
county pre-disaster plan said
L exington
was
m ost
susceptible to five types of
disaster: flood, w ildfire,
w in ter sto rm , w ind and
drought. She said federal
grant m oney co u ld be
available to help prevent or
m itig ate any o f th ese
disasters, not just floods.
TVee auction to be held
after Parade of Lights
Heppner Chamber of
Com m erce is once again
encouraging residents to
light up for the Christmas
Lighting Contest. Columbia
Basin Electric is sponsoring
the contest again this year.
Categories are “Best
Outdoor Lighting,” “ Best
Indoor D eco ratio n s," as
viewed from the outside, and
"Judges’ Favorite.” Judging
will occur between Dec. 17-
20, so p a rtic ip a n ts are
encouraged to keep their
lights twinkling.
The w in n ers w ill
receive $30 each. Last
y e a r ’s w in n ers are not
eligible for prize money.
The Chamber hopes
to encourage everyone to
get in the Christmas spirit
and have the town sparkle
for the holiday season, says
Terry Baker, C h am b er
executive director.
H eppner’s fourth Annual Christm as tree (and
basket) auction and raffle will be held Thursday. Nov. 30.
after the Parade of Lights.
The Heppner Cham ber of Commerce is again
joining forces with Pioneer Memorial Hospice to sponsor
this event. Everyone is invited to vote on his favorite
decorated Christmas tree and maybe even making the
winning bid to take it home.
To donate a tree, decorate an artificial tree (usually
between 3-5 ft.), and bring it to Heppner City Hall between
Nov. 24-30. from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. After-hours deliveries can
be arranged with prior notice. Fill out a registration form
and submit it before or w ith tree. The tree judged “People's
Choice” will be awarded a special plaque.
Fifty percent of the value of a donated tree is tax-
deductible. Receive your tax voucher when you register
the tree.
To donate a basket, till a gift basket w ith your choice
of goodies, and bring it to City Hall between Nov. 24-30.
from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. After-hours deliveries can be arranged
with prior notice. Fill out a registration form and submit it
before or with basket.
Fifty percent of the value of a donated basket is
also tax-deductible. Receive your tax voucher when you
register the basket.
Entry forms may be picked up at the Chamber
office.
Activities on Saturday, December 2, will include a
sleigh ride with horses and an antique wagon by Jack
Meligan. a live nativity and carolers.
M C G G G R E E N F E E D S T D R E in H e p p n e r
^ h ris tn m s trees «re in f
We also have Christmas tree stands,
lights, and Christmas tree permits
M orrow C o u n ty C ra in G rowers G reen Feed FS S eed
242 W. Linden Way. Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG mam office)
I