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Some flu vaccine getting to Morrow County i 111 ■ ■ 11 • • I • I • • 111 ■ * ■1 a H111 a 1 ^ Bessie Wetzel I Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 VOL. 128 NO. 42 10 Pages Wednesday, October 28, 2009 By David Sykes The H1N1 flu vac cine is starting to make its way to M orrow County, and h ealth o ffic ia ls are now a d m in is te rin g the doses in lim ited amounts to the targeted swine flu group, the county health nurse said Monday. M or row County Public Health Director Sheree Smith said that as soon as the county Morrow County. Heppner, Oregon Governor candidate visits Heppner By David Sykes Candidate for Or egon Governor John Lim, who was in Heppner last F rid a y , sa y s th e num ber-one issue facing Oregon is the economy. L i m , an ex p erien ced state le g is la to r having served 13 years in the House and Sen a te , says O reg o n needs a limited government and a smaller government that will not stifle the busi nesses that will ultimately create the jobs in Oregon. "We have 12 percent unem ployment in Oregon, higher than the national average,” says Lim . “ A nd th a t is unacceptable. We need to show young people how to succeed.” Lim im m ig ra te d to the United States from K orea in 1966 and has worked in many dif ferent types of jobs including starting his own com pany c a lle d A m e ric a n Royal Jelly C om pany, which he still owns, in 1972. “ 1 have held manual jo b s and owned a company. I understand how to work and how to run a business," he says. Lim says the Dem ocrats have been running things too long with poor results. “Oregon needs a new direction. Our state has been under one party rule for too long, and that is not good. I am not sure what the Democrat governor has done,” he adds. “But we need fresh leadership.” “It is not the job o f government to provide jobs,” Lim says. “The pri vate sector will create the j o b s .” T he g o v e rn m e n t should “ s te e r” he says, “not row,” when driving the economy. Lim says the Re publican Party needs to have a big tent, unify and listen to people with dif ferent opinions. “ I am a conservative and believe in improving the economy and creating jobs. 1 will be the top salesm an for Oregon,” he says. With his ties to Korea, Lim says he has spent time in the Pacific Rim countries and could help sell Oregon's products to those countries. On education Lim says we need to be more pragm atic. “ Our curricu lum is not designed for the 21st century. We need to custom ize education,” he says. “ Each student should work in w hat they are good at. Twenty five percent o f students in Oregon don’t graduate. This is a problem. We need to teach students other things, such as hands on skills,” Lim says. Lim also says we need to make sure the gov ernment does not become the sole support for citi zens. "We have 100,000 people on welfare in this state. We need to make sure people can get jobs and then take them . The g o v e rn ment should not be provid ing long term income,” he says. Following is Lim’s biography: John Lim is one of the longest serv ing members in the legislature, where he served five elected terms in Oregon. When Chris Rauch shot this kangaroo while on a trip to Australia the first part of September. Rauch shot four that same night, but. he w as in the eighth grade, the Korean War broke out on June he said, the big one got away. -Contributed Photo 25, 1950. His father. Eun Kyu The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see Lim, was forced to serve as pictures o f your trophy animals from this a firefighter under the North Korean military occupation for hunting season. Stop by to have your pic three months. Because of this ture taken, drop off photos, or email them reason, John Lim’s father was executed by the South Korean to editor@rapidserve.net. -See GOV. CANDIDATE/ Page FIVE Rauch bags kangaroo in Australia Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, November gets more H I N l vaccine they w ill be going into the schools to vaccinate the students. Sm ith said she hoped to see a larger supply of vaccine arriving in tw o to three weeks. Smith said her of fice will be giving the vac cine at all regularly sched uled clinics in Boardman ( Monday and Tuesday ) and Heppner ( Thursday ) giving out what is available. Smith emphasized that the vaccine at this tim e will only be given to those in the follow ing target groups. The target groups for H l N l vaccination are: -Pregnant women -Household mem bers and caregivers o f in fants less than 6 m onths of age. -Children 6 months through 24 years of age. -Persons age 25- 64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of complications from influenza. -Healthcare work ers and law enforcement. “H I N l influenza illness has not yet peaked,” Smith said. We urge every one to get the vaccine when they can.” She also said Residents at 270 Chase Street in Heppner are taking the Hu season in stride, putting up these sarti decorations as comic relief. -Photo by Autumn Morgan health experts expect anoth er wave of H l N l influenza illness in the spring. Smith announced the arrival o f additional seasonal influenza vaccine and urged people to get their regular seasonal flu shots which can be received during the norm al clinic schedule starting November 4 with the P.O.D. (Point of Distribution) Clinic offer ing free (no cost) seasonal vaccine to anyone. The clin ic will be held at Riverside High School Wednesday, November 4, in Boardman 4-7:30 p.m. This clinic is the same type that was held at the Heppner High School last November. Everyone is encouraged to attend, especially those w ithout health care coverage, said the health department. Health district shows $387,155 loss for 2009 fiscal year Upcoming tax levy revenues to improve bottom line By April Sykes Konrad Capeller, certified public accountant w ith M ichael R. Bell & Com pany, told the M or row County Health District Board Monday night that audited financial statements show that the district had a net loss of S387,155 for the 2009 fiscal year, compared to net gains o f $229,978 for 2008 and $658,107 for 2007. The board had ex pected a loss for the year, as the district’s previous three- year serial levy had expired. Voters have approved a new five-year levy which is ex p ected to g en erate over $350,000 per year for the district. Capeller also attributed some of the loss to the start-up o f the new long-term care facility at Pioneer Memorial Hospital, in addition to the absence of levy funding for the year. He credited MC'HD Chief Financial Officer Ni cole Mahoney with better debt collections for the dis trict. He said the district’s days in accounts receivable went down from 70 days to 63 days, compared to most hospitals, which average 75-80 days in accounts receivable. The financial state ment indicated that the dis trict’s overall business grew, with gross patient revenue increasing $931,256, al most 17 percent, and the net patient revenue increasing $543,865, 11 percent. Non patient revenues, including property taxes, decreased by nearly 30 percent, w hile op erating expenses increased by $839,372. The financials re ported $ 1,753,080 in net as sets for the district in 2009, com pared to $2,140,235 in 2008 and $1,910,257 in 2007. Total operating rev enues were $5,671,798 in 2009; $5,143,907 in 2008; and $5,209,598 in 2007. Total operating expenses were $6,766,853 in 2009; $5,927,481 in 2008; and $5,473,461 in 2007. The district had a non-operating gain (which includes prop erty tax rev en u e, in te r est earnings and expense, donations and grants and gains/losses on the sale o f assets) of $707,900 in ’09; $1,013, 551 in '0 8 ; and $921,970 in ’07. C a p e lle r also touched on the d ifficu l ties the d istrict has had with Medicare reimburse ments. He said estim ates on the amount of Medicare payments the district is to receive is based on cost reports and can vary wide ly from period to period, subsequently resulting in Medicare overpaying. The d istrict m ust then repay M edicare for those over payments, periodically re sulting in a hefty repayment am ount. He said he and Mahoney were working on a resolution to the problem and would examine the is sue quarterly. D istrict adm inis trator Michael Blauer told the board that he has been exploring options to satisfy the impending federal re quirement for implementa tion of an electronic records system. He told the board that an initial deadline of 2011 has been set to have the electronic record sys tem in place, with other requirements mandated in follow ing years. He said the district will be reimbursed for the system , how ever strict guidelines m ust be followed to receive reim bursem ent, so selection must be made very care fully. “If you pay all the m oney and don’t fill the requirements, you won’t be reim bursed,” said Blauer. Capeller said that as soon as funds are expended for the system, “You get a check.” M ahoney said that while the costs of purchasing the system will be reimbursed, maintenance o f that system will not. In other business the board: - l e a r n e d from Bl auer that Dr. Hanl on has expressed an interest in providing cardiac care for the district, however, the pu rch ase o f certain specific equipment may be required. -learned from Blau er that he was contacted by members o f Boardman Emergency Services who told him that they were very' satisfied with the equipment they are provided by the district. One volunteer told the board at the last district meeting that the equipment was sub-standard. -learned from Blau er that flu outbreaks have seemed to have subsided somewhat. He said that all doors at the hospital are open except for "a couple in long-term care.” “Things seem to be stable right now, but w e’re keeping an eye out," he said. “We appre ciate all the efforts o f the staff." added MCHD Chair Larry Mills. -heard from Blauer that the district’s providers have met w ith the directors o f the new mental health facility that is scheduled to be com pleted the first part of next year with the -See HEALTH DISTRICT/ Page FIVE ATVs stolen from M.C. Grain Growers A ccording to the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, four ATVs were sto len from Morrow County G rain G row ers' store in Lexington. On October 23, a store employee contacted the sheriff's office to report that four ATVs were miss ing from the store. A deputy responded and reported the following ATVs as stolen: a gold 2010 Polaris Razor with black stripes; a red 2009 P olaris Sportsm an 550; a cam ouflage 2009 Polaris Sportsman 850; and a red 2009 Polaris Sports man 400. 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