Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2012)
Health district approves budget II i I ii I iii U h I I I i i h i I I i I h 'II Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 VOL. 131 N O . 18 10 Pages Wednesday, May 2, 2012 District anticipates loss fo r next year By April Sykes The Morrow Coun ty Health District Board voted Monday to accept a proposed 2012-13 budget, which shows an estimated loss of $66,047 for the next Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon ‘Work on Wellness’ meeting held The C om m unity Health Improvement Part nership (CHIP) of Morrow County hosted “Work on Wellness” sessions with local businesses in Heppner and Boardman on April 24- 25 to examine the health needs identified for Mor row County, opportunities for businesses to affect the health of the community, and options for worksites interested in developing wellness programs to en courage healthy employ ees and reduce health care costs. A ndrea Fletcher opened the session with a presentation o f informa tion about the health needs o f Morrow County, how the social and physical environment people live, work and play in (livability o f a community) affects well-being, and how a com munity working together can advance the quality of life for individuals through thoughtfully planned and coordinated programs and services coupled with a sup portive environment. Jan Noland, City- county Insurance Services, presented a summary of what influences health care insurance premium costs, and how m odifying the lifestyle factors that con tribute to the development o f chronic disease (over- Jan Noland of Citycounty Insurance Services addresses at tendees at a Work on Wellness session recently. -Contributed photo weight/obesity, tobacco use and physical activity) can address the future decline of health status for individuals and decrease health related costs. Dawn R o b b in s, Oregon Health Authority Wellness@Work Program, navigated h ttp s://d w p l. dhs.oregon.gov/W ellnes- sAtWork, a web-based tool with free resources avail able to help businesses both large and small gauge their health environment, learn about assessing employee interests, needs and health risks, and generate ideas for workplace activities or pro grams to support employee wellness. T ric ia R o llin s , Bank of Eastern Oregon; Marcia Kemp, United States Forrest Service, Heppner Ranger District; Roz Pe- dro, Conagra Foods Lamb Weston; and Karen Kegler, Boardman Foods, Inc. de scribed their organizations’ philosophies about healthy employees, incentives, pro grams and physical envi ronments that prompted them to institute worksite wellness initiatives. Work on Wellness was funded by the North west Health Foundation and supported by CHIP, Co lumbia River Community Health Services, Morrow County Public Health De partment and Commission on Children and Families, Com m unity Counseling Solutions, Morrow County Health District, Heppner and Boardman chambers of commerce. Dale Bates and CenturyLink. See http:// www.ohsu.edu/M CCHIP for more information. Ballot drop locations Ballots are due by May 15 at 8 p.m. Complet ed ballots may be mailed or dropped off at any of the follow ing locations provided by the Morrow County Clerk: Heppner: Court house parking lot. Open 24 hours, April 27 until 8 p.m. May 15. Or, the Mor row County Clerk’s Office, Room 102 inside the court house. Open 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m., M-F and Elec tion Day (May 15) from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Lexington: 365 West Hwy 74 (Public Works Parking lot). Turn off Hwy. 74 onto Tom Street and left into the public works parking lot. Open 24 hours, April 27 until 8 p.m. May 15 . lone: Spring St. Twenty-four-hour ballot drop sites like this one at the Mor row County Courthouse allow easy access to Morrow County voters. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo (in front of the turn to 3rd Street). Open 24 hours, April 27 until 8 p.m. May 15. Boardman: NW Boardman Ave. Open 24 hours, April 27 until 8 p.m. May 15. Irrigon: 205 NE 3rd St. (Irrigon Annex). Open 24 hours, April 27 until 8 p.m. May 15. A L L N E W S A N D A D V E R T IS E M E N T D EA D LIN E: M O N D A Y S A T 5 :0 0 P.M . fiscal year. The loss will be covered by the district’s cash carryover. Chief Financial Of ficer Nicole Mahoney told the board that she was very conservative in her projec tions, considering that in previous years the projected resources from operations had been somewhat over estimated compared to the actual figures. “It’s hard to pre dict, so we tried to be a little conservative. Obvi ously, a lot of the numbers are estimates,” Mahoney stressed. She also comment ed that without the addi tional five-year serial levy voters approved earlier, the district would not have enough income to sustain itself. “ With the budget looking the way it is, I ex pect we will need it again,” she commented. The dis trict is in the fourth year of a five-year serial levy. The budget also includes a five percent in crease in service rates for all departments, effective July 1. The 2012-13 bud get shows $8,697,619 in resources and $1,192,856 in tax revenue for $9,890,475 in total resources, compared to $9,956,522 in total ex penditures for a $66,047 decrease in cash. Last year’s 2011- 12 adopted budget included $8,812,203 in resources and $1,131,502 in tax rev enue for $9,943,705 in total resources, compared to $9,743,647 in expendi tures. Mahoney said that an 83 percent increase in Workman’s Comp insur ance, amounting to around $43,000, is one big factor in the negative bottom line. Proposed resources and expenditures by depart ment are as follows: - H o s p i - tal-$5,l 16,232 in resources vs $5,326,256 in expendi tures; -Home Health & Hospice-$572,855 in re sources vs $650,857 in expenditures; -Boardm an Am- bulance-$269,861 in re sources vs $298.333 in expenditures; -Irrig o n A m b u la n c e ^ 17,034 in resourc es vs $175,669 in expen ditures; -H ep p n er C lin - ic-$971,990 in resources vs. $1,006,096 in expen ditures; - I r r ig o n C lin - ic-$432,825 in resources vs. $329,296 in expenditures; O th e r r e s o u r c es include: other rev e n u e ^ 130,400 (dietary & cafeteria revenue, rental incom e, m iscellaneous income and reim burse ments and contract revenue with Willow Creek Ter race and Columbia River Ranch); donations and grants-$ 167,235; interest income-$40,500; capital leases-$ 120,000; operating, capital, long and short tenn loans-$ 150,000; commu nity service fees-$60,000; electronic health record reimbursements-$448,687. Other expenditures include: emergency medi cal services (Lexington and Ione)-$ 16,096; Boardman clinic donations and commu nity benefit grants-$50,000; revenue reductions and bad debt-$ 1,158,344; capi tal purchases-$443,735; capital lease principal re- duction-$45,000; long and short term debt principal eduction-$456,840. Budgeted expen ditures include the fol lowing capital purchases: $250,000-Irrigon Clinic expansion; $ 140,000-am bulance and defibrillator for Irrigon (scheduled re placement); $44,735-two defibrillators for Boardman and Heppner ambulances; $9,000-Pioneer Memorial Clinic heating and ventilat ing system; total-$443,735 with $75,000 to be financed by a bank loan, $ 195,000 to be financed by other loans, $41,500 to be paid with cash on hand and $ 132,235 to be paid by grants and donated funds. Also at the meet ing, the board: -learned that the district ended up in the black in March with a $30,219 gain for the month. The district showed $597,821 in gross patient revenue and $ 114,068 in revenue deduc tions for $483,752 in net pa tient revenue and $592,552 in total operating revenue; $592,134 in total operating expenses and a $29,801 non-operating gain. The -See HEALTH DISTRICT BUDGET/PAGE FIVE Doherty named public works director Harmon leaving fo r Prineville job By David Sykes Chad Doherty was named public works direc tor for the city of Heppner at a special city council meeting last Wednesday night. The city council met to go over applications for the soon-to-be-vacant city manager’s job, but it also was announced that current Public Works Direc tor Brian Harmon is leaving to take a superintendent job in Prineville. Harmon has worked for the city for the past 12 years. After learning o f Harmon’s departure, the The council went council voted to promote through the applications, Doherty from as which were num sistant public works bered so the names d irecto r to head of applicants were public works direc not revealed, and tor. Doherty, 36, has narrowed their pos worked for the city sible choices down for the past eight to nine. O f those, years. the council will be In the main Uhad gin interviews and b u sin e ss o f the Doherty background checks meeting, the coun to further narrow cil sifted through 30 ap their choices. plications for the soon-to- DeMayo has said be-vacant city manager’s he will stay on until Au job, currently held by Dave gust until his replacement DeMayo, who is retiring. is found. EOU update meeting & reception held in Heppner E astern O regon University President Bob- Davies met with commu nity leaders at a reception at Rep. Greg Smith’s home in Heppner on April 26. Davies gave an up date on the university’s cur rent activities and its plans for the future. EOU serves students and communities throughout Oregon with a special focus on rural, regional and distance learn ing. Programs are de livered on campus, online and onsite in La Grande and at 16 regional centers and include liberal arts, business, education and cooperative programs in Representative Greg Smith (left) greets Eastern Oregon Uni versity President Bob Davies at reception in Heppner last week. -Photo by David Sykes agriculture, nursing and dental hygiene. pardon OUR MESS W xwel W e s t il l h a v e g r ea t buys rs & & HARDWARE ON PARTS Morrow V County Grain Growers ^ ^ ^ xln g to n 989¿221 • 1 - 600 - 452-7396 «litt N r n b a u u w v meff.n«
