Health district to restore nursing home program with first patient
M orrow C ounty
Health District CEO Victor
Vander Does announced at
the M CH D m eeting in
Heppner Monday night that
the district will proceed with
its swing bed, long-term care
program. “We're going to
admit a patient to long-term
care,” said Vander Does.
Molly Rhea, R.N., director
of nursing. Home Health and
Hospice, stressed that the
p a rtic u la r p atient to be
admitted to long-term care
was a special case that fit the
program’s criteria.
II.U ...I.IJ II.....ILL,II
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 126
NO. 13
8 Pages
Wednesday, March 28,2007
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Register by May 1 for alumni football game
Registration for the
first annual alumni football
game is May 1, says
organizer Jess Osmin. The
game is scheduled for June
16, 2007. Depending on the
response, two games are
plan n ed , y o u n g er vs.
younger, and older vs. older.
If there are not enough
players, a blue vs. white
game will be played.
A fee of $20 will be
charged for those wishing to
participate. This fee will
cover the use of facilities and
equipment, and a t-shirt.
There will be a small charge
at the gate that will be used
to purchase a trophy to be
passed on from year to year.
The remaining money will be
do n ated to the football
program.
Anyone wishing to
participate can send a check
made out to Jess Osmin and
their t-shirt size to 58794
Balmfork Rd., Heppner, OR
97836 no later than May 1,
2007. Also, please send your
phone number, the year you
graduated, and the position
you played in school.
For
more
information contact Osmin
at 541-676-9079. Anyone
interested in officiating the
game or working the chains
is also asked to call. Enough
interest must be shown by
May 1 or the game will have
to be called off.
Teams will be
announced on Friday, June
15, 2007, and a practice
walkthrough will be held.
Participants are asked to
bring both jerseys to this
practice. If a player does not
have a jersey, Greg Grant
will allow use of practice
jerseys for the game.
lone Kindergarten studying butterflies, raising chicks
Vander Does said
that the district plans to bring
back up to 10 long-term care
(nursing home) beds. He said
that some remodeling will be
needed, including the dining
and activity areas, and
refurbishing two bathrooms
to American Disabilities Act
requirements.
The district closed
its nursing home several
years ago when it became
financially impossible to
continue its operation. The
district was not reimbursed
from Medicaid enough to
cover its costs.
The state recently
approved a new program
that
will
allow
reimbursement at a rate that
w ill be financially feasible for
the d istrict to provide
nursing home care, said
Vander Does.
Vander Does said
that MCHD is the very first
facility in the state to go w ith
the
n ew ly -a p p ro v ed
program. “Since it took the
state such a long time to
work this out, we need to
push this very aggressively,”
said Vander Does. “So we're
going to admit a patient to
long-term care and let them
(the state) figure out how to
catch up.
Physician Dale Alter
was introduced at the
Monday meeting. Dr. Alter,
who has worked for the
district a short while, will
provide emergency room
care at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital and primary care at
Pioneer Memorial Clinic in
Heppner on a locums basis
until his credentialing is
approved.
"I've been enjoying
working here very much,”
said Alter, who currently
lives in Albany. ‘Fora small
hospital, it has really good
diagnostic equipment.” He
also commented on how
much he enjoyed working
with the staff and patients.
Also at the meeting,
the board approved up to
$21,000 for a physician
recruiting firm. Time Line
Recruiting, to search for
The
lone
Kindergarten class has
been
studying
m etam o rp h o sis
in
butterflies. Starting with
tiny larva, kindergartners
watched them grow' into
large caterpillars, saw the
c ate rp illars build a
chrysalis and hope to see
the butterflies emerge to
fly around in their tower.
S tudents hope to be
sending them off on our
playground soon after
spring break.
The students are
also incubating chicken
eggs. Some of the eggs
surprised the class with an
early arrival. “How exciting
it was to hear their sound one
m orning as we began
school,” said Barb Collin,
kindergarten teacher. “The
kids were so excited to
watch the chicks actually
break out of their shells!”
Kindergarteners watched as
the chicks dried, gained
strength and began to walk.
The amazed faces of the
students as they watched
were priceless. During the
science fair, at our school
this week, our exhibits were
a big hit. The chicks were
held, petted, and given
much love, by many little
hands.
Dr.
M ichael
C um m ings,
G eology
D epartm ent C hair at
Portland State University,
works with small schools
in our area and the class
was able to benefit from
some of the grant money
that he works with. Mrs.
C ollin wrote and was
awarded a federal grant,
which helps school
districts bridge the gap of
m andated
federal
programs of the No Child
Left Behind Act.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
-receiv ed thanks
from
Irrigon
C linic
Physician’s Assistant Terry
Anderson, who is leaving the
d istrict for em p lo y m en t
e lse w h e re.
N urse
Practitioner Sue Peeples will
provide care at the Irrigon
Clinic.
-heard c o n cern s
from a long-term MCHD
patient whose physician had
left the district for another
job. The patient requested a
transfer to another physician
within the district, but said
she was told by office staff
that that particular physician
was not taking “ new
patients.” Vander Does and
Mahoney assured her that
this was not the case and
stressed that the issue will be
resolved. “The sole purpose
of this organization is to
serve the public," Mills
emphasized.
-heard the following
report for February: Pioneer
Memorial Clinic had 389
patients with 19 new patients
and 38 seen by a nurse;
Irrigon C linic had 189
patients with 32 new
patients, 41 seen by a nurse
and 18 no shows; Heppner
Ambulance had 17 page
outs and 14 transports for
$18,886
in
revenue,
Boardman Ambulance hud
28 pag e-o u ts and 11
transports for $10,968 in
revenue, Irrigon had 14
pag e-o u ts
and
eight
transports with $7,262 in
revenue, there were three
flights; Pioneer Memorial
Hospital had six admissions,
20 were a d m itted for
observation, hospital respite
had one admission, there
were 398 outpatients, 72
em ergency
room
encounters, 1463 lab tests,
76 x-ray procedures, 21 CT
scans, 24 EKG tests, 63
resp irato ry
therapy
pro ced u res; PMH had
$ 2 8,979 in revenue for
hospital encounters; Home
Health had 166 visits;
Hospice had six admissions;
the pharmacy had 1401 drug
doses for $66,241 in
revenue.
Inspirational Electric co-op announces
retirement and promotion
Easter
C olum bia Basin o p eratio n s
m anager.
Electric C o o p erativ e is Mitchell, who was raised in
messages
Heppner. his wife Darcee
pleased
t
o
and their three children
wanted
announce
reside in Heppner.
All area pastors are
asked to please turn in an
inspirational Easter message
and church events calendar
to the Heppner Gazette-
Times. The messages are due
by Monday, April 2, at 5 p.m.
and can be dropped off,
mailed, or emailed. The
messages will be published
on Wednesday, April 4.
Back row (L-R): Grade Crum, Candise Walton. Logan Burright, and Jacob Owen. Bottom
row (L-R): Renee Peterson, Payton Miller, and Deborah Ruiz.
d o cto rs to work at the
hospital
and
clinic.
“ R ecruitm ent is very
difficult,” said Vander Does.
“Things are not looking
good for rural recruitment.”
He said that he expected it
would take a while to recruit.
“The lifestyle issue has
alw ays been an is su e ,”
concurred board Chair Larry
Mills, acknowledging that
many physicians and their
families prefer an urban
rather than rural setting.
Board member Linda LaRue
sum m ed up the b o a rd 's
thinking in approving the
ex p en d itu re, saying, "A
good recruiting firm is very
much worth it.
I t’s
something that takes time
away from your (Vander
Does') duties.”
M CH D
C h ie f
Financial Officer Nicole
Mahoney reported another
good bottom line for the
month. The district ended
with a $27,784 gain for
February and a $48,350
profit for the year for a
$6,044 average monthly
gain. The d istrict had
$427,945 in gross patient
revenue for the month.
Mahoney and Vander Does
said that M a rc h 's gross
patient revenue could even
top a half a million.
In other business, the
board:
-receiv ed a letter
from Columbia River Health
Services, a Boardman non
profit clinic serving migrants
and the general population,
that they will begin their
audit in April. CRHS
receives some financial
support from MCHD. The
board plans to meet with
CRHS soon thereafter.
Vander Does said that he has
learned that CRHS has been
successful in recruiting a
physician after searching for
some time.
-heard a report from
Rhea who said that the
d is tric t's Home Health
program received one of the
highest awards from the
O regon A sso ciatio n for
Home Care at a presentation
in Salem on March 16.
t h a t
Slater
\ .
-1
D
.
V 4
Mitchell
has been
promoted
t
o Slater D. Mitchell
succeed
Archie Ball as the co-op's
op eratio n s
manager.
M itchell, a jo u rn ey m an
lineman, has been employed
with the co-op for 12 years,
most recently as the assistant
Archie Ball retired
after more than 26 years of
service to Columbia Basic
Electric. “ It's going to be
real difficult to make-up for
Archie's knowledge of the
sy ste m ,” stated a co-op
representative. "He knew the
back roads, where people
live, where the lines run. and
where the trouble spots are.
We're going to miss him!”
Ball retired on February 28,
2007.
Pink flamingos in Heppner
Heppner needs new speakers on Main Street. To that end. the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce is sponsoring a new fundraiser. Soon you will start to see a flock of pink
flamingos appear all over town. If they appear in your yard, you must pay at least $5 to
have them removed to another yard. ( You can pay more, if you wish, although the Chamber
has decided to put a cap of $25 on each payment.) The next step is to pick a friend or
neighbor that you would like to see receive the “flock.” When making your decision,
please be considerate of the recipient. We don't want to make anyone angry and we
don't want anyone to feel obligated to pay.
The Chamber office w ill keep track of the "flock” recipients, so that no one has
to tend to the flamingos tw ice. So, please call the Chamber to inquire a.bout the list and
to have the birds removed from your yard. We also ask that the flamingos stay within
Heppner city limits. This is a great way to raise money for new speakers and for those
who want to participate to have fun. The first recipient will find the flock in their yard on
Monday. April 2.