Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2014)
I Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library Health district considers school-based lone clinic Location , staffing and community response all deciding factors VOL. 133 N O . 14 8 Pages Wednesday, April 2, 2014 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon March winds blow in much-needed moisture v«rr ■*-»•» y i i n d ir a f c U j I j K v < iuo J According to NOAA’s National Weather Service in Pendleton, the blustery weather in March blew in some much-needed rainfall in South Morrow County. P recipitation totaled 2.31 inches during March, w hich w as 0.79 inches above normal. Measurable precipitation o f at least .01 inch was received on 16 days with the heaviest, 0.92 inches, reported on the 10"’. T h e h ig h e s t w in d gust was 42 mph, which occurred on the 6th. The NWS preliminary d a ta a ls o re p o rts th a t tem peratures at Heppner a v e ra g e d n e a r n o rm a l during the month o f March. The average te m p e ra tu re w as 4 4 .6 degrees, w hich was 0.4 degrees above normal. High temperatures averaged 55.9 degrees, w hich was one degree above normal. The highest was 67 degrees on the 16th. L o w t e m p e r a tu r e s a v erag ed 33.2 d e g re e s, w hich w as 0.3 d eg rees below normal. The lowest was 22 degrees, on the 2nd. T here w ere 12 days with the low temperature below 32 degrees. There was one day when the high temperature stayed below 32 degrees. \ J.VeNi.lui.1 k\Vj.rc- iirvcc The outlook for April from N O A A ’s Clim a.te Prediction Center calls for near-normal tem peratures and near-normal precipitation. Normal highs for Heppner rise from 59 degrees at the start o f April to 64 degrees at the end o f A p ril. N o rm al low s rise from 36 degrees to 40 degrees. The 30-year normal precipitation is 1.51 inches. The National W eath er S e rv ic e is an o ffic e o f th e N a tio n a l Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency o f th e U .S . C om m erce Department. Public meeting planned to discuss new county admin building M orrow County will be hosting a com m unity in fo rm a tio n m eetin g to re c e iv e c o m m e n ts and suggestions for the new administration building to be built in Heppner. The m eeting will be held Wednesday, April 2, at 5 p.m. at the M orrow C ou n ty F a irg ro u n d s in Heppner. The project m anager and the a rc h ite c ts w ill be a v a ila b le to a n sw er q u e s tio n s and h e a r comments. The M orrow County C o m m issio n e rs w ill be a tte n d in g a ls o , an d encourage the community to attend. First-draft sketches o f the building and floor plans will be available. Anyone with questions may contact Karen Wolff at the M orrow C ou n ty Courthouse, 541-676-5620 or k w o lff@ c o .m o rro w , or.us. Heppner to host tri county band festival The annual Tri-County Band Festival is coming to Heppner on Wednesday, April 9. More than 192 students from H ep p n er, lo n e , Irrigon, Boardman, Grant Union, Arlington, Umatilla, Stan field and W eston- McEwen high schools will participate in the day-long event. After a day o f practice, the students will present a concert at 6:30 p.m. at Heppner Elementary School under the directorship o f g u e st c o n d u c to r A ndy Carey of Pendleton. Family, frien d s and com m unity m em bers can attend the concert for a nominal cost o f $2. The ev en t has been an area tradition for more than 40 years, and Heppner music teacher Rick Drake says he is pleased Heppner is able to host the festival this year. “It promises to be an exciting day and terrific concert,” Drake says. By April Sykes The M orrow County H e a l t h D i s t r i c t is contem plating opening a school-based rural health clinic in lone, depending on the lone com m unity’s response and other factors, M CHD CEO Dan G rigg to ld the b o ard at th e ir regular m eeting Monday night in Irrigon. He said th at he has had several discussions to explore the concept and has met with lone School P rin c ip a l S arah C ran e- Simpson. G rig g s a id th a t he a tte n d e d a s e s s io n on sc h o o l-b a se d h ealth clinics at a Rural Health C o n feren ce in P ortland last O cto b er, w here he learned o f the concept. He said that organizations that set up and run a clinic on school property and follow state certification standards are eligible for a $60,000 annual operating grant. He said that establishing a clinic in lone would go toward solving the problem that lone residents have in traveling the farthest o f all the Morrow County c o m m u n itie s to o b ta in health care. Factors in the decision w o u ld in c lu d e w h e re to locate the clin ic and s ta f f in g . He s a id th a t M CH D pro v id ers could staff the clinic for 10 hours o f the required 15 hours a week the clinic would be open. G rig g s a id th a t K im b e rly L in d s a y , d ire c to r o f C om m unity Counseling Solutions, and S h eree S m ith , d ire c to r o f the M orrow C ou n ty Health D epartm ent, both indicated that they would be supportive o f the clinic. G rig g said th a t he, Crane-Simpson and MCHD Board Chair Larry Mills v is ite d a s c h o o l-b a se d health clinic in Mitchell. He planned a p resentation concerning the school-based clinic at the lone Community Agri- B u sin e ss O rg a n iz a tio n annual meeting April 2 at the lone Legion Hall. G rigg told the board that new physician Dr. Dan Hambleton began working for the district on March 12 and h as b e e n w ell received. Grigg said that Dr. Hambleton and his wife were “thrilled to be here." A r e tir e m e n t o p e n house for Dr. Ed Berretta w ill be held T h u rsd ay , April 24, at St. Patrick’s Senior Center in Heppner beginning at 6:30 p.m. In other business, the board: -h e a rd th a t a PAC (political action committee) meeting with the goal o f prom oting the d is tric t’s I i Lord a Marvelous Song, Songs Mein Grossmama Sang, and Surely It Is God Who Saves Me (with Alice Massey on violin). Admission is free to all Inland Northwest concerts, but donations to this non profit are always gratefully accepted. Tax deductible Season Sustaining Memberships with voting rights may be purchased for $50 at the door. Following the concert, the public is invited to join the performers for a reception with beverages and cookies. For a d d i t i o n a l information or questions about Inland Northwest M u sicia n s, p layin g or sin g in g in one o f the ensembles, or the concerts, c o n ta c t Judi Ma s o n , judim asn@ eoni.com or 541-314-5407, or R. Lee Friese, 541-377-1865, or the Inland Northwest office at 541 -289-4696 or inwm@ ^ machmedia.net. upcoming local option tax levy is set for Thursday, A p ril 3, at 3 p .m . at Lexington City Hall. Mills said that the goal o f that meeting is to decide what to do to promote the levy in each community. Grigg presented a fact sheet to be disbursed, which explains the levy and informs the public on the district. The .39-cent levy, which would be a c o n tin u a tio n and the sam e am ount as the previous levy, will come before the voters before the mail-in election day of May 22. Hie fact sheet illustrates that the M orrow County Health District base tax rate o f .6050 cents per thousand, plus the local option tax o f .39 cents per thousand is m uch low er than the health district base tax rates for John Day at $2.1329 per $1,000, for Burns at $1.9314 per thousand, and Enterprise for $1.6373 per thousand. -ap p ro v ed jo in in g a trial membership in a risk m a n a g e m e n t p ro g ra m fo r P io n e e r M e m o ria l Cl i n i c a nd P io n e e r M em orial H ospital. The reimbursement to the clinic and hospital depends on a com plicated formula that includes the utilization o f the district’s services and number o f claims filed. The higher the claims, the less PMC or MCHD would get in reimbursement. -learned that Pioneer Memorial Clinic in Heppner will submit its application for Tier 2 Patient Centered P r im a r y C a r e H o m e c e rtific a tio n soon, w ith the application for Irrigon M edical C linic taking a while longer as the district works out agreements with Good Shepherd M edical Center and Kadlec Medical center for “transitional care requirements.” - l e a r n e d t h a t th e electronic medical records project is on schedule. Grigg said that training and testing o f data is progressing in the financial and revenue areas, with final “m igration” to EM R p lan n e d for M ay 12. He said th a t c lin ic c o n v e rs io n is to s ta r t this week with m eetings planned to decide which data will be converted from patient paper charts. He said that the clinic system will start the week o f May 5, with “go live” planned for June 17. -learned that W arren Rosen from the Im aging D epartm ent has decided to retire early. W ith his d e p a rtu re , c u rr e n t lab manager Betty Hickerson will now head both imaging and lab departments. Grigg said that a radiology tech from Pendleton is willing to provide coverage while a full-time radiology tech is located. - l e a r n e d t h a t th e d i s t r i c t ’s s e a rc h fo r a primary care director o f the clinics is ongoing. Carmelo Di Salvo o f Heppner will be the project manager for the implementation o f the electronic health records in the primary care clinics. Di Salvo has a Doctorate o f Strategic Leadership in o rg an iz atio n lea d e rsh ip and a m aster’s degree in business administration. - l e a r n e d t hat the d istric t’s union contract with the A m e ric a n Federation o f State, County and Municipal Employees is to expire on June 30, and the union and the district have reached a tentative a g re e m e n t on a uni on contract. The next step will be ratification by union members. -h e a rd t h a t a t a s k force had been created to increase the availability o f A u to m ate d E x tern al D e f i b r i l l a t o r s in t h e Boardman community and do m ore CP R/ AED training. -received the following f in a n c ia l re po rt for February: MCHD received $680,137 in gross patient revenue; $65,575 in total revenue deductions, $127,629 in tax revenue, $26,108 in other operating revenue for $768,299 in total operating revenue; $757,359 in total operating expenses and $14,160 for a non-operating gain for a -See HEALTH DISTRICT/ PAGE EIGHT A r e a p a s t o r s in v it e d to s u b m it E a s t e r Inland Northwest Chorale to perform at SAGE Center In la n d N o r th w e s t M usicians presents the Inland Northwest Chorale concert “Spring into Song” on Saturday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at the SAGE Center, 101 Olson Rd., Boardman. The concert w ill be under the direction o f R. Lee Friese with Myrna Van Cleave, formerly o f Heppner, as accompanist. S election s w ill include A frican A llelu ia (w ith p e r c u ssio n ), B eau tifu l Brown Eyes, Sing to the Currently, 65 certified SBHCs operate in 21 Oregon coun ties, with 12 sites currently in the planning and development phase. -Map courtesy o f Oregon School-Based Health Alliance m essages E a s te r is A p ril 20. The Heppner Gazette- Times invites area pastors to submit Easter messages to be published in the April 16 edition. The deadline is 4 -H & Friday, April 11. at 5 p.m. M essages can be dropped off at the Gazette office, emailed to editor@ rapidserve.net, or faxed to 541-676-9211. F FA 10% OFF ALL MARKET ANIMAL FEED & SUPPLIES Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppnw » 676-9422 » 989-8221 (MCGG main offlc«) l j* I
