Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2007)
Broderick set to retire after 21 years By Autumn Morgan A fter 21 years o f work at the OSU Extension Service, Bill Broderick will retire on Friday, November 30. Broderick has worked as the 4-H agent and staff chair, providing classes for 4-H students. Born in H anford, CA, Broderick was raised on Sauvie Island and went to high school in Scappoose. He graduated from college Fresno State University in 1969. B roderick lived in II i I ii I iii I i I h III kiii II i I h 'II Bessie W et/ell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Euuene, OR 97403 HEPPNER lone for 17 to 18 years be fore moving to Hermiston. His wife, Laura, works at McNary Heights Elemen tary School. The couple has two sons, Kyle and Bryan, who both live in the Portland area. B ro d e ric k w o rk s w ith 4-H camps during the summer at Cutsforth Park. The camps, consisting of 4-6 graders, provide cam pers w ith an outdoor experience. “4-H camps are always a special time,” said Broder ick. “The volunteers I’ve worked w ith over the years are fantastic. It’s special how they work w ith kids." Broderick has a few plans for life after he retires. Broderick hopes to get some traveling in at some point. He also hopes to build a house sometime in the fu ture. But until then, imme diate plans are to paint the Bill Broderick ^ill retire on Friday, November 30, after 21 years at the OSU Extension Office. house they live in now. A retirement party for Broderick will be held on Friday, November 30, from 5-7 p.m. at the Morrow County Fairgrounds Pavil ion. Hors d ’ oeuvres, punch and coffee will be served. Anyone wishing to bring a light appetizer may do so. When asked about his 21 years spent at the OSU E xtension Service, Broderick replied “ These are great people that I work with. It has been unbeliev able." And onward they go imes VOL. 126 NO. 48 10 Pages Wednesday, November 28, 2007 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Health district hears good audit news, but bottom line buoyed by special tax levy, one time Medicaid payment By April Sykes Konrad Capeller of M ichael R. Bell & C om pany, PLLC, certified pub lic accountants, Spokane, Washington, presented the Morrow County 1 lealth Dis trict Board with good news c o n cern in g th e ir annual audit report at their regular meeting Monday night in Heppner. The district ended the year with a $658,107 net gain, com pared to a $480,139 net gain for 2006, which amounts to a 37 per cent increase, said Capeller. He said that the district’s overall business grew, with gross patient revenue in creasing $668,125, nearly 15 percent over the prev ious year and the net patient rev enue increasing $872,041, 21 percent over last year. The district’s over all operating expenses in cre ased by $ 6 9 0,970 or 14 percent, and salary and wages increased $312,085, 13 percent. Employee ben efit expenses increased by $125,776 or 21 percent. Gross accounts receivable increased from $740,908 in 2006 to $1,025,358 in 2007. C a p e lle r r e p o r t ed that the district spend $ 122,039 on capital e x penditures, with the largest purchases for enhancement o f the acute care cardiac m onitoring system and a new district-w ide telephone system . The district also purchased a defibrillator for the Boardman Ambulance to expand their scope o f ser vices. The district now pays the salaries for full-tim e param edics in Boardman and Irrigon. Some other ex penditures were made with specific grants and other expenditures were made to replace worn or obsolete equipm ent, he said. The district received $44,021 in grant revenue, o f which $17,492 was from Morrow County tippage monies. The tippage fee monies were ear marked for equipment and training for Hospice and in stallation of handrails for the crosswalk from the hospital to the clinic. The district also received funds for employee custom er service training and other small equipment purchases. C a p e lle r told the board that the district has around 90 days cash on hand which, he said, was very good. He noted, however, that two issues contributed to the district's healthy bot tom line. One was the one time settlem ent o f nearly $575,000 from M edicaid for payment o f rural health claims dating from 1999 to 2007. According to Capel ler, “The cost per Medicaid visit increased, but the state of Oregon refused to pay it for a good five years." That settlement was recorded in 2007, how ever, the cash paym ent w ill not be re ceived until 2008. Capeller credited C h ie f Financial Officer Nicole Mahoney for “rallying the troops in our favor" with “persistent letter writing and prodding to state and federal governments" to resolve the issue. The o th er area is the district levy which vot ers passed which has pro vided MCHD with around $861,000 over a three-year period and allowed the dis trict to retire some o f its long-term debt in 2006. H ow ever, the th ree-y ear levy w ill soon expire and the district will receive no levy funds in 2008. The district could put up another levy in November 2008, but will not receive any levy funds until 2009. Capeller said that if the district did not have the Medicaid payment and the additional taxes, MCHD would have a $200,000 loss and would not have the cash balances it currently has. T he b o a rd p lan s to schedule a m eeting to discuss the levy issue and decide whether it will put another levy before the vot ers. A lso at the m eet ing, M ahoney reported a $5,620 gain for O ctober and a $ 176,885 gain for the year to date, for an average monthly gain o f $44,221. In other business, the board: -learned from CEO Victor Vander Does that a physician is “extremely in terested” in working for the health district and MCHD should know for sure in a few weeks. - l e a r n e d from Vander Does that the long term swing bed plan is on track. The program, which includes remodeling to ac commodate swing bed pa tients, will restore long-term care to the district. -learned from Vander Does that the district has received three grants for around $20,000 each-one from the Pioneer Memorial Foundation, one from the Wildhorse casino and one from Morrow County tip- page monies. -learned that an in- fo rm ational/fund raising mailer is in the process and will be sent out soon. -received the follow ing report: Pioneer Memorial Clinic had 417 patient v isits, w ith 22 new patients and 80 patients seen by a nurse; Ir rigon Clinic had 168 patient v isits with 32 new patients, 72 seen by a nurse and 15 no-shows; Heppner Ambu lance had 19 page-outs w ith 15 transports for $ 11,140 in revenue; Boardman Ambu lance had 30 page-outs w ith 22 transports for $22,411 in rev enue; Irrigon Ambulance -Continued on Page five ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. The team celebrates after their 8-6 win over the Lakeview Honkers. -Photo hr Samir Matthews Lane Bailey runs the football during the semi-final game on Saturday, November 24. -Photo hr Sandy Matthews The Heppner Mustangs won their semi-final game 8-6 against Lakeview on Saturday, November 24, to advance to the 2A State Football Championship game. The game will be played on Saturday, December 1. at Hillsboro Stadium. Directions and transportation information can be found on page three. On Thursday, November 29, after the Parade o f Lights, a community pep as sembly w ill be held at approximately 6:15 p.m. at the Shamrock on the corner o f Main and Willow Streets for the HHS football team. Parade of Lights to be held this Thursday Heppner will hold its eleventh annual Parade of Lights on Thursday, November 29, at 6 p.m. Entrants will begin lining up at 5 p.m. at MCGG Green Feed. Indiv iduals. families, and businesses are all welcome to enter. Prizes will be awarded for the follow ing: Best Community Float; Best Commer cial Float; Best Individual Float; and Best School Float. A prize o f $75 will be awarded for each. For more information contact the Chamber at 676-5536. Congratulations M ustangs Your community is behind you! At the MCGG GREEN FEED STORE in H e p p n er: W e ha v e a g r e a t s e le c tio n o f C H R IS T M A S T R E E S (We also sell Christmas tree permits) M orrow County d ra in G rowers Green F eed & S eed 242 W Linden Way. Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
