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)