M.C. Public Health brings in
maternal child health coordinator
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Ltbrarv
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
VOL. 129
NO. 41 10 Pages
Wednesday, October 20,2010
M orrow C ounty
Public Health has hired Liz
DeCou to take on the role
o f maternal child health
coordinator and lactation
consultant.
The role of mater
nal child health coordinator
and lactation consultant
covers three different pro
grams. The first is Maternity
Case M an
agement in
w hich D e
Cou works
w ith p reg
nant women
and up until
the child is
tw o y e a rs Liz DeCou
old. The pro
gram provides resources to
help the mother understand
different situations that
come up throughout preg
nancy through age two, as
well as connect the mother
with different services. The
second program is Babies
First which covers children
from birth through age five.
Qualifying factors for the
program can include pre
maturity, low birth weight,
and drug exposures. The
third program is Cocoon
which covers children from
birth through age 20 who
develop some type of dis
ability.
DeCou also han
dles a breastfeeding and
lactation program. Any
community member can
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon access the program. She
also works with an inter
preter as to be able to help
the Hispanic community as
As executive director Car- needed.
nine helps administer the
DeCou was raised
farm bill, works with DCP/ in Eugene and received her
ACRE, CRP and disaster
programs and works with
commodity loans. “I re
ally like it (the job),” said
Carnine. “It’s very fast-
paced.”
C arnine’s family
Federal Health and
runs a farm in Stanfield. Her Human Services Secre
husband, Travis, is from tary Kathleen Sebelius an
Condon and works on the nounced awards of $727
family farm in Stanfield million to 143 community
and rodeos.
health centers across the
Carnine replaced country to address pressing
Darcy Vial as executive construction and renovation
director when Vial left the needs and expand access to
position at the end of June. quality health care. These
funds - which will create
construction jobs and health
center jobs across Ameri
ca and enable community
health centers to provide
affordable care to thousands
of additional patients — are
the first in a series of awards
that will be made available
on art work that went over
to community health cen
a highway overpass. When
ters under the Affordable
asked why tax money was
Care Act.
being spent on a pointless
O ne o f the a n
piece of art, Day said he
nounced recipients of seven
was told if the agency did
Oregon awards is Columbia
not spend the money they
River Community Health
would have to give it back.
Services located in Board-
“Not much common sense
man for $2,370,178.00
there,” he said.
U.S. Senator Jeff
Other examples were the
Merkley, commenting from
$70,000 the government
Washington D.C. had this
spent to connect to social
to say about the Boardman
networking sites like Fa-
funding to the medical fa
cebook, the $1,932 per
cility - “ Families across
month, per employee that
Morrow County depend on
Tri-Met spends on health
the Columbia River Com
insurance, a health plan
munity Health Services for
they could have purchased
everything from their kids’
the same as the state for
check-ups to disease man
$700 less per employee.
agement,” said Merkley.
“Tri-Met’s health care plan
“The new health care law
is the most expense in the
will create jobs by help
United States, Day says.
ing expand the facility and
Another award went
ensure that countless Or
again to the Department of
egonians receive the health
Corrections for spending $ 1
care they need.”
million on satellite TV for
Community health
prisoners, an expenditure
centers serve nearly 19
that was also cancelled after
million patients, about 40
the award.
percent o f who have no
Day said the fall of 2008
health insurance. Commu
was a difficult election nity health centers deliver
cycle because of excessive
preventive and prim ary
spending supported by the
care services at more than
Republican Party. “Our 7,900 service delivery sites
party (Day is a Republi around the country to pa
can) decided to spend and tients regardless of their
spend even though we are ability to pay; charges for
supposed to be the party
o f fiscal responsibility,”
he said.
He said the state budget
continued page eight
nursing degree from Lane
Community College. She
later earned a bachelor's de
gree in anthropology from
the University of Oregon.
She has worked in labor
delivery in high-risk hos
pitals. DeCou has worked
for four years as a lactation
consultant and is an Inter
national Board Certified
Lactation Consultant.
DeCou currently
lives outside of Heppner.
She has three daughters,
two of whom live in the
San Francisco area. Her
third daughter lives in the
Washington, D.C. area and
has four sons.
DeCou is working
on restarting the Umatilla/
Morrow County Breast
feeding Coalition. A meet
ing will be held on October
25 at Good Shepherd Hos
pital in conference room 1
from noon to 2 p.m.
Anyone who can
provide clothing, bedding,
or other baby supplies for
mothers in need may do
so.
For more informa
tion about any o f the pro
grams that DeCou works
with, or to donate baby sup
plies, call 541-676-5421 or
send an email to edecou@
co.morrow.or.us.
Preschool students
take firehouse tour
Camine working as executive director for FSA
S tanfield native job search when a friend
Kyle Carnine is the ex told her about the FSA.
Having been raised
ecutive director for
the Morrow County
on a farm she knew
about the all of the
Farm Service Agen
different programs
cy.
th a t FSA w orks
B orn and
raised in Stanfield,
with, but did not
know who helped
Carnine commutes
to her job in Hep
adm inister those
pner. A graduate Kyle Carnine programs. She ap
o f Stanfield High
p lie d w ith FSA
School, Carnine received and immediately began a
her bachelor o f science one-year training traveling
degree in ag business and a around Oregon. She later
minor in crop and soil sci worked with the Sherman
ence in 2007 from Eastern County Farm Service Agen
Oregon University.
cy as the executive director
After graduation before coming to Heppner.
Carnine was beginning her
Boardman Clinic receives $2.3 million
from Affordable Care ACT
Head of Common Sense says there
is ‘lots of fat’ in the state budget
Organization uses ‘Golden Fleece Award’ to point out
wasteful spending by state agencies
By David Sykes
The head of Common
Sense For Oregon, a non
profit group based in Salem,
told a gathering in Heppner
Sunday if politicians say
there is no fat or wasteful
spending in the state bud
get, they are wrong.
During a program put on
by the Willow Creek Tea
Party Patriots., Ross Day,
head o f Common Sense
for Oregon, said his group
has started giving out The
Golden Fleece award to
state agencies that waste
money and the response has
been tremendous.
Ross gave several ex
amples of wasteful state
spending that has garnered
the Golden Fleece Award.
One went to the state cor
rections department that
was spending $773,000 on
free soda pop for prisoners.
He said after they made the
award and ran an ad about
it on local radio stations
the department, the head of
which Day knew personally,
stopped the practice. “The
head of the department of
corrections was a friend of
mine and a Republican but
needless to say he was not
to happy about getting the
award.” But he points out
that money could have been
used to fund three full time
state troopers.
In another example he
points to $100,000 spent
Ross Day, head of Common Sense For Oregon, speaks
Sunday about his group's efforts to control govern
ment spending.
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MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Students from Heppner Preschool, along with their teacher
Merry Chandler, presented volunteer firelighter Steve Rhea
for giving them a tour of the firehouse. -Contributed Photo
services are set according
to income.
Lynn Prag, Board
President to the non-profit
organization is thrilled. “No
doubt about it, this fund
ing means we will soon be
handing out the shovels for
groundbreaking.”
The campaign is in
full swing with professional
campaign consultants West-
by Associates, Inc. from
Vancouver, WA, bringing in
foundation, public and phil
anthropic strategic support
to help deliver the $4.4 mil
lion capital campaign as the
only medical site in the City
of Boardman. This figure is
currently being evaluated.
Truer figure will be avail
able after meeting with the
architect and builders in the
next couple of weeks.
Newly appointed
Boardman Campaign Co-
Chairs Gary and Kathy
Neal commented “Kathy
and I have a personal and
local interest in Columbia
River Community Health
Services. We want to make
sure that the clinic has an
enduring foundation as a
new medical facility that
will serve Boardman and
the Port o f Morrow for
many generations. This is
much needed and we are
pleased to be a part of it.”
Kathy Neal has reported
that the local fund raising
has surpassed $350,000
of the $500,000 needed in
local pledges from the lo
cal areas. “More is needed
but we are confident we
can raise the additional
money.”
It is a dream come
true as the current clinic had
over 12,000 visits last year,
has aging equipment, and
a growing Port of Morrow
that is depending more and
more on occupational health
services to their growing
business environment.
Dr. Robert Boss,
M edical D irector, with
longtime personal involve
ment in the medical center
noted “This is wonderful
news. As we look to the
future of Boardman this
new m edical clinic will
help attract and retain new
medical professionals and
their families to a growing
City of Boardman.”
The project is ex
pected to break ground in
March of 2011, which will
create jobs during the con
struction phase of the proj
ect expected to last several
months in creating a newly
minted 15,000 square foot
print of new outreach and
medical services.
“This is a huge
benefit for the people of
the community and it has
my full support,” said May
or Chet Phillips, City of
Boardman.
The Capital De
velopment (CD) program
grants, adm inistered by
HHS' Health Resources and
Services Administration
(HRSA), w ill support major
construction and renovation
at 143 community health
centers nationwide. This
builds on the more than $2
billion investment in com
munity health centers in the
American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act.
Mindy Binder, Ex
ecutive Director to Co
lumbia River Community
Health Services is espe
cially happy about the an
nouncem ent, “Our new
clinic will bring life saving
upgrades and services that
will benefit all of Board-
man, Port of Morrow and
the surrounding Morrow
County area-we can’t wait
to welcome our first patient
in our new building.”
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