Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2008)
Health district approves Dr. Berrettai contract 'S c W c S '^ U c r t .^ y The Morrow County Health District Board ap proved a part-time hourly contract with Dr. Ed Berretta to prov ide emergency room and clinic patient care at Pioneer Memorial Hospital and Clinic. MCHD CEO Victor Vander Does also told the board that another physi cian, Dr. Nichols, is "mov ing into employee status.” Dr. Nichols is expected to be on board in July. A lso at the m eet- ing the board learned that the district lost $25,589 in November. The district still has a $ 151,295 gain for the year and a $30,259 aver age monthly year-to-date gain. C hief Financial O f ficer Nicole Mahoney told the board that she expected December’s bottom line to be up, with $460,000 in pa tient revenue anticipated for the month. The district had $398,585 in gross patient revenue for November. In other business, the board: -learned that the dis trict has purchased a duplex in H eppner for $93,000. The district expended an additional $1,200 expense for testing an oil tank at the duplex prem ises. Vander Does told the board that the heating system may need to be upgraded, along w ith the electrical system to accom modate the heating system upgrade. He said that two electric furnaces are ex pected to cost around $4,500 and the electrical upgrade around $3,500, although the district is awaiting another bid for the furnaces. The duplex will be used to provide housing for fill-in doctors and nurses. -learned from Ma honey that the district an ticipates financing improve ments to the hospital with a combination o f cash and flex loans. Remodeling is planned to accommodate the new sw ing bed program which would allow the hos pital to provide long-term care once again. Vander Does told the board that six people are already on the long-term care list. - l e a r n e d fro m Vander Does that a recent direct mail campaign gar nered around $4,000. He said the district also has also received around $60,000 in grants. Vander Does and Mahoney say that Medicare will pay close to 80 percent of the costs for the long-term care remodel project over 15 years. -learned that the dis trict can expect no signifi cant changes in property tax receipts the coming year. -heard the following report: Pioneer M emorial Clinic had 400 patient visits in November with 17 new patients and 76 patients seen by a nurse; Irrigon Clinic had 201 patients with 20 new patients, 46 seen by a nurse and seven no-shows; Heppner Ambulance had 15 page-outs w ith 11 transports for $12,244 in rev en u e; Boardman Ambulance had 17 page-outs and 14 trans ports for$ 14,477 in revenue; Irrigon Ambulance had 14 page-outs and six transports for $5,242 in revenue; Pio neer Memorial Hospital had six admissions, 18 adm is sions for observation, 442 outpatients, 88 emergency room encounters, 127 x-ray procedures, 27 CT scans, 27 EKG tests, 37 respiratory therapy procedures; Home Health had 138 visits; Hos pice had two adm issions; pharm acy had 698 drug doses for $43,707 in drug revenue. -held an executive session to discuss ph y si cians' contracts and other personnel issues. Deadline nearing for 2008 Wheat Foundation Scholarships VOL. 127 NO. 2 8 Pages Wednesday, January 9, 2008 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Dessert auction to be held SWCD and MCLG to hold annual meetings The Morrow County Soil and Water Conserva tion District and Livestock G row ers w ill have th eir annual meeting and joint program on Thursday, Janu ary 17, at the Heppner Elk’s Lodge. The SWCD regular monthly meeting will begin at 10 a.m. A hosted lunch will be held from 12-1 p.m. Ajoint program will be held at 1 p.m. The SWCD and MCLG annual meetings will be held at 3:30 p.m. Table displays in clude: FFA, Willow Creek Clockwise from top left: Sarah Ballard, Kathryn Strouse, Weed M anagem ent Area, Lynnell Bowie, Cyde Coil, Katie Kilkenny and Sophie Grant (center). Oregon Department o f For estry, Cattleman’s Beef Mar The 8lh annual dessert auction will be held by the keting, OSU Extension/4-H, HHS cheerleaders on Saturday, January 19, in the gym Wheat League, Wheatland during half-time o f the girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball Insurance, Natural Resource games. Conservation Service, and Cheesecake, sugar cookies, German chocolate Soil and Water Conservation cheesecake, caramel pecan cinnamon rolls, and red velvet District. cake are among some o f the items that will be auctioned. Ken Grieb will be the auctioneer. NOAA issues monthly climate summary A ccording to pre liminary data received by NOAA’s National Weather Service in Pendleton, tem peratures at Heppner aver aged warmer than normal during the month o f D e cember. The average te m perature was 36.5 degrees w hich w as 2 .0 d e g re e s above normal. High Tem peratures averaged 43.3 de grees, which was 1.1 degrees above normal. The highest was 62 degrees on the 4th. Low temperatures averaged 29.7 degrees, which was 3.0 degrees above normal. The lowest was 17 degrees, on the 11th. There were 21 days with the low tem perature below 32 degrees. There were 2 days when the high tem perature stayed below 32 degrees. Precipitation totaled 1.16 inches during Decem ber, which was 0.19 inches below normal. Measurable precipitation -at least .01 inch- was received on 12 days with the heaviest, 0.46 inches reported on the 7th. Snowfall totaled 6 inches with at least 1 inch of snow reported on 4 days. The heaviest snowfall was 3.0 inches reported on the 7th. The greatest depth of snow on the ground was 3 inches on the 7th. The outlook for Jan uary from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center calls for near to below normal tem peratures and above normal precipitation. Normal highs for Heppner during January are 42.3 degrees and normal lows are 26.3 degrees. The 30 year normal precipitation is 1.46 inches. The National Weath er Service is an office o f the National Oceanic and A tm ospheric A dm inistra tion, an agency o f the U.S. Commerce Department. The Oregon Wheat Foundation will provide up to 12 scholarships for high school seniors whose fam ilies are m em bers o f the Oregon Wheat Growers League. S tudents w hose fam ily m em bers are em ployed by OWGL members are also eligible. The schol arship requirements include an essay on any topic related to the wheat industry and a summary o f the student’s school and community in volvement. O ne $500 aw ard will be made to a qualifying student from each o f the par ticipating counties, which include Baker, Gilliam, Kla m ath, M alheur, M orrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, W allowa, and Wasco. In addition one award will be made in the Willamette Val- ley Counties and the Central Oregon Counties. A pplication forms are available from the Ore gon Wheat Growers League website at www.owgl.org, or Cindy Osterlund. schol arship coordinator for the Oregon Wheat Foundation, P.O. Box 322, Condon, OR 97823. Applications are due February 1. Grant funds Elks Hoop Shoot winners available announced The Umatilla-Walla The annual Elks Hoop Shoot was held Sunday afternoon, January 6, at the Heppner High School gym nasium. Approximately 40 kids participated in this event and fun was had by all. The winners for the 8-9 year old girls were: first place, Bethany VanCleave; second place, Ryan Wizner; and third place Siera Robie. Winners for the 8-9 year old boys were: first place, Logan Grieb; second place, Henry Padberg; and third place, Wyatt Neal. The winners for the 10-11 year old girls were: first place, Maddie Lindsay; second place, Paige Grieb; and third place, Macy Gibbs. Winners for the 10-11 year old boys were: first place, C.J. Kindle; second place Brian Rill; and third place, Tate Gentry. The winners for the 12-13 year old girls were: first place, Shadow Kendrick; second place, Alana Wilson; and third place, Emma Osmin. Winners for the 12-13 year old boys were: first place, Austin Gutierrez; second place. Trey Waite; and third place. Garret Robinson. j ,0 W n an(j Country Banquet to be held The Heppner Chamber o f Commerce will hold their annual Town and Country Banquet on Thursday, January 17, at 6 p.m. at the Elks Club. This year's theme is “Celebrating Small Time Life” and is sponsored by CenturyTel. Prime rib will be served for dinner and tickets are $25 per person. Tickets can be purchased at BEO, Murray's, Heppner City Hall, and Heppner Chamber of Commerce. Award categories for this year are Woman o f the Year, Man o f the Year, Citizen-Educator o f the Year, Youth Recognition. Business of the Year, and Lifetime Achieve ment. Dinner will be prepared by the Elks Club and served by the Heppner High School Senior Class. The Heppner Garden Club will be providing the decorations. Jewelry has been donated by Peterson's Jewelers. Walla-Willow Creek OWEB Small Grant Team, consist ing o f members from the Morrow SWCD, Umatilla Co. SWCD, Umatilla Basin Watershed Council, Walla Walla Watershed Council, Tiicham SWCD and CTU1R (Confederate Tribes o f the Umatilla Indian Reserva tion), announces the avail ability o f up to S I0,000 small grants to private land- owners, and others eligible for regular OWEB (Oregon W atershed Enhancem ent Board) grants, for the pur poses o f enhancing water shed conditions to improve water quality and quantity w hile m eeting the needs o f all beneficial uses; flood plain and upland improve ment and enhancement; and reducing erosion, sedimen tation and nutrients. Projects w ill also be considered deal ing w ith invasive plants and noxious weeds. Funding is provided through OWEB. OWEB Small Grant info rm atio n is av ailab le on their website at www. oregon.go\ O W EB index, shtml. Interested landown ers can also contact a team member in their area. A two week signup for small grants will be held January 15-31 with funding decisions be ing made in February. Con tact (Morrow SWCD) for application m aterials and
