Health District provides free Medicare
Part D enrollment info to district
residents
visits and said he was con dures, 14 EKG tests, two
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libran
University of Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
M orrow County
Health District CEO Mi
chael Blauer told the health
district board at their regu
lar meeting in lrrigon Mon
day night that Elizabeth
Peterson, who is employed
by the district, has been
providing advice to district
residents regarding enroll
ment in Medicare Part D.
This is a service that the
health district has been
providing to residents free
of charge.
Blauer also report
ed that the recent personnel
changes have gone smooth
ly. Molly Rhea, who was
formerly director of nurs
ing services. Home Health
and Hospice, is retaining
only the director of nurs
ing services, while former
Home Health and Hospice
nurse, Robanai Disque, is
assuming the position of di
rector of Home Health and
Hospice. Blauer said this
change will allow Rhea to
take on more “risk manage
ment” tasks and concentrate
on her DNS position. He
said that Disque reported
that the transition is going
well.
VOL. 128 NO. 52 8 Pages Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Morrow County, Heppner. Oregon
B lauer said that
during the last two weeks
o f January, two different
electronic health record
vendors will be on site to
demonstrate their products.
He said the district is ex
cited to learn more about
the benefits of an electronic
system and recognizes that
choosing a system will be
a very significant decision
with long-lasting implica
tions.
He also said that
community service fees
from wind farms in the
county resulted in a higher
amount o f revenue than
anticipated and budgeted.
However, he added, the dis
trict has received notice that
the tax revenue in February
may be 30 percent less than
anticipated because some
businesses in the county
had an inflated estimated
value.
Blauer also noted
that the CT scanner at Pio
Heppner Mayor Les Faustian (Right) presents Randy Sample with a retirement gift. Sample neer Memorial Hospital
worked with the City of Heppner for 13 years. Photo by David Sykes
has undergone numerous
repairs and maintenance
Sample retires from city job
Rev. Grace Drake moving to Idaho
After many years
serving as a volunteer in
Heppner, Rev. Grace Drake
will be moving to Payette,
ID, where her daughter and
son-in-law, Susan and Tom
Ferguson, live. She will be
moving into The Cottage
Assisted Living.
Born and raised
in Kimball County, NE,
Grace (Gadeken) Drake was
raised on a dryland farm.
After graduating from Kim
ball County High School
in 1939, she attended the
University of Nebraska in
Lincoln, NE. She graduated
from college in 1944. That
same year she traveled by
train to Portland to work as
an assistant teacher in the
Vanport City Child Care
Centers for pre-school chil
dren of shipyard workers
during World War II.
In Septem ber o f
1946 Drake came to Mor
row County to work as an
Oregon State Extension
employee. Also in Septem
ber, she married a returning
WWII veteran, Douglas E.
Drake. The couple began
farming with his parents on
their Sandhollow ranch. The
couple had four children:
Susan (Drake) Ferguson,
Douglas A., Gwendolyn,
and Richard.
From 1950 to 1955,
Drake taught the Jaycette
Kindergarten that was held
in the old fair buildings
located where the library
and museum
now stand.
In 1 9 5 6
th e f a m
ily m oved
from th e ir
town home
to t h e i r
ranch home. Rev. Grace
D rake was Drake
widowed in
1967 when her husband
died in a hunting accident.
Drake served at the
juvenile court director un
der Judge Paul Jones from
1968 to 1972.
From 1972 to 1975
she attended seminary at
Pacific School o f R eli
gion in Berkeley, CA. After
completing her schooling
in 1975, she served un
til 1986 at three different
charges in the United Meth
odist Church. She served in
Union/North Powder from
1975-1978. In 1977 she was
ordained in La Grande. She
served in Filer, ID, from
1978 to 1981 and in Ashton,
ID, from 1981 to 1986.
In 1986 Drake re
tired and returned to Hep
pner where she began vol
unteering for num erous
organizations. She served
on the Home Health advi
sory committee and on the
board of directors of South
Morrow County Neighbor
hood Center and St. Pat
rick's Senior Center. She
also planned and organized
the summer project for
the Neighborhood Center
which consisted of planned
activities and field trips
for youth ages 6-14. The
project w as carried on with
the help of volunteers and
lasted three years.
Drake also served
as a volunteer chaplain of
Pioneer Memorial nursing
home. Besides calling on
residents, she also held me
morial services at the hos
pital for deceased residents.
During her volunteer years
she also served as a court
appointed special advocate
of youth under the jurisdic
tion of juvenile court.
January 3, 2010,
will be Rev. Grace Drake’s
last Sunday in Heppner. The
United Methodist Church
will be honoring her dur
ing the w orship service
from 10:30-11:30 a.m. A
potluck will be held after
the service. The public is
invited to attend. Anyone
who cannot attend the wor
ship serv ice is still welcome
to visit the fellowship hall
to wish Drake farewell.
D rake’s new ad
dress w ill be G race E.
Drake. 1481 7,h Ave. N. #7.
Payette, ID 83661.
Town and Country Awards event to be held Jan. 14
The Heppner Chamber of Commerce Tow n and Country Community Aw ards
event, sponsored by Century Link, will be held in the Pav ilion at the Morrow County-
Fairgrounds on Thursday, January 14, at 6 p.m. Catering w ill be prov ided by “Pudding
on the Ritz".
Tickets will be $20 and will be available for sale on Monday. January 4.
cerned that it may fail. He
said that he and Nicole
Mahoney, MCHD chief fi
nancial officer, are currently
looking at funding options
to replace the machine,
rather than being forced to
find a replacement on short
notice.
Mindy Binder, the
executive director for the
Columbia River Commu
nity Health Services clinic
in Boardman, reported at
the meeting that a federal
grant that they had applied
for to fund construction
of a new CRCHS build
ing has been denied. She
reported that they w ill look
for alternate funding, but
the setback will delay their
construction plans.
The board re
ceived the financials for
November which showed
that the district lost $27,340
for the month. The district
had $456,641 in gross pa
tient revenue w ith $16,194
in revenue deductions,
$95,521 in tax revenue and
$1,079 in other operating
revenue for $537,047 in to
tal operating revenue. Total
operating expenses were
$574,214 with a $9,826
non-operating gain. The
district had a $5,277 aver
age monthly year to date
loss.
Reports indicated
that P ioneer M em orial
Clinic had 370 patient vis
its for the month, with 31
new patients, 45 seen by
a nurse and six no-shows;
lrrigon Medical Clinic had
215 patient visits, 20 new
patients, 45 seen by a nurse
and 10 no shows.
H eppner A m bu
lance had nine page-outs
and nine transports for
$ 11,544 in revenue; Board-
man Ambulance had 21
page-outs with seven trans
ports for $8,326 in revenue;
and lrrigon Ambulance had
22 page-outs with eight
transports for $7,912 in
revenue.
P io n eer M em o
rial H ospital had seven
admissions, two swing bed
admissions, 11 admitted
for observation, 399 total
outpatients, 53 emergency
room encounters, 1230
lab tests, 101 x-ray proce-
colonoscopy procedures,
three endoscopy procedures
and 67 respiratory therapy
procedures.
Home Health had
117 patient visits; Hospice
had one adm ission; and
pharmacy had 1180 drug
doses for $63,566 in rev
enue.
The board m eet
ing calendar for 2010 is as
follows: January 25, lone
Community Church; March
1, Sand Hollow Room, Port
o f M orrow, Boardm an;
March 29, Home Health
Office, Heppner; April 26,
Lexington School District
office; May 24, Home
Health Office; June 28,
Morrow County Annex,
lrrigon; July 26, lone Com
munity Church; A ugust
30, Home Health Office;
September 27, Sand Hollow
Room; October 25, Lex
ington School District Of
fice; November 29, Home
Health Office; December
27, Morrow County Annex.
All meetings are held on
Mondays at 7 p.m.
Motor home
rolls on icy
roads near
Lexington
The Morrow Coun
ty Sheriff’s Office reported
that a motor home was
totaled after it wrecked
on slick roads at milepost
34 on Hwy. 74 between
Lexington and lone on De
cember 28. MCSO said the
accident occurred just past
the long straight stretch not
too far out of Lexington.
They reported that
a motor home was towing a
pickup and the motor home
rolled.
A c c o r d i n g to
MCSO one elderly female
was transported by ambu
lance.
According to re
ports, the driver of the ve
hicle was Leo DeZoete
of Heppner. His wife Rita
DeZoete was injured in the
accident and taken to Pio
neer Memorial Hospital by
Heppner Ambulance.
Gazette-Times closed on Friday
The Heppner Gazette-Times w ill be closed on Friday, January, for New Year's
Day. We will re-open on Monday, January 4, at 9 a.m.
M.C. Sheriff’s Office vehicle damaged in traffic crash
According to the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office, on Monday, Decem
ber 28, a Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office vehicle was
damaged in a traffic crash
while attending to another
crash. At the time, a 23 year
old male and a two year old
female were sitting in the
sheriff’s office car to keep
warm.
Sgt. Randy Ray-
bum of the Morrow County
S heriff’s Office had re
sponded to a report of ve
hicle roll-over crash on
Interstate 84. After he ar
rived, two of the three occu
pants of the car that crashed
were placed in his car to
keep warm. Another car.
driven by Sierra Ames of
Pendleton with a female
juvenile passenger, struck
Sgt. R ayburn’s vehicle,
knocking it into Boardman
firefighter Rick McKee, 22,
of Boardman.
EMTs evaluated
M cKee and he was re
leased with minor injuries.
The two occupants of Sgt.
Rayburn’s patrol car were
also evaluated and refused
treatment.
Boardman F ire De
partment, Morrow Coun
ty A m bulance, Morrow
County Sheriff's Office
and Oregon State Police
all responded to the scene.
Oregon State Police are in
vestigating the incident.
The Morrow Coun
ty Sheriff’s Office urges all
driver to slow down when
approaching and passing
accident scenes.
M.C. Health Department announces flu clinic schedule
The Morrow County Health Department announces its schedule for flu clin
ics:
January 5 - H 1N 1, Boardman Senior Center (11-1 p.m.)
January 6 - H1NI, Heppner Senior Center (10-2 p.m.); H1N1, lone Fire
Hall (4-7 p.m.)
January 7 - Free Seasonal Flu, Heppner-Gilliam Bisbee Building conference
room (8:30-12 & 1-7), H1N1 will be available
January 11 - H1N1, lrrigon Senior Center (11-1 p.m.)
January 11 - Free Seasonal Flu Boardman Health Department office (9-12:30
& 1-7), H1N1 will be available
We will be closing at 5 pm
December 31st and opening
again Monday, January 4th
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221'1-800-452-7396
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