FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 1, 2017
St. Pat’s Players present ‘A Rose in Bloom’ Tax Wise and
Area residents are
Otherwise
again in for a theatrical
A periodic column by Daniel Van Schoiack, CPA
treat with the presentation
of “A Rose in Bloom,” this
year’s drama by Father
Gerry Condon and the St.
Patrick’s Players.
Performances will be
at the Ione Community
School on Sunday, March
12, at 3 p.m., and at St. Pat-
rick’s parish hall, Heppner,
on Thursday, March 16, at 7
p.m. Admission is free, but
donations will be accepted
for Asher’s Army, to help
Asher Schonbachler’s fight
against Vanishing White
Matter disease.
“A Rose in Bloom” is a
sequel to Fr. Condon’s play
last year. Because of her
earlier illegal activities in
“Intrigue at Glendalough,”
Rose is pressured into ac-
cepting a government as-
signment, setting out on a
mission to catch and arrest
a known criminal. He has
a storefront at the Hill of
Tara, the famous Hill that
was associated with St.
Patrick himself. Louie, the
criminal, sells rosaries,
medals and religious books
there, but that is just a front
Pictured (L-R): Fr. Gerry Condon, Joe Lindsay, Janet Greenup, Nikki Coe, Barney Lindsay,
Rick Drake, Bill Kuhn, Josh Coiner, Dan Van Schoiack, Brian Kollman, Andrew Lindsay,
Larry Lutcher and Rita Van Schoiack. -Contributed photo
for his wholesale distribu-
tion of illegal pornography.
As Rose makes her way
to Tara, she is confronted
with several challenges,
mostly because of her dis-
guise as a Catholic nun.
Along the way there are
“Festival Singers” with Joe
Lindsay singing an original
song he has composed for
this drama, and clowns.
When Rose arrives at Tara
she gets help from an un-
expected source, enabling
her to accomplish her goal.
The play is another
original work by Fr. Con-
don. The cast includes Anne
Morter, Barney Lindsay,
Bill Kuhn, Beth Dickenson,
Dan Van Schoiack, Joe,
Leanne, Cori Jo and Ryan
Lindsay, Larry Lutcher,
Andrew Lindsay, Nikki
Coe, Debbie Gutierrez (in
Ione), Janet Greenup, Rick
Drake, Bill Monagle, Rita
Van Schoiack, Cam Swee-
ney, Josh Coiner and Brian
Kollman.
HEALTH DISTRICT
-Continued from PAGE ONE Clinic, who would also be underway when the weather grant writing efforts would
review.
“The board thanks Bob
for his service this past year.
He’s done a great job for
the district,” commented
MCHD Board Chair John
Murray. “We greatly ap-
preciate all you have done.
The district is better off for
having you here.”
Board member Aaron
Palmquist also commented,
telling Houser that he had
“aggressive and very strong
support from the board.”
“I want to thank the
board for their support,”
said Houser. “I’ve really
enjoyed this past year. It’s
been rewarding and chal-
lenging.” He added that he
has appreciated working
with the board and looks
forward to several more
years of working with them.
Houser just completed his
first year of a five-year con-
tract as administrator.
In other business, the
board:
-approved a request
from Houser to sign an
agreement with Pacific
Companies to recruit a
physician for the Irrigon
Clinic and assist in the
emergency room weekend
call schedule. The fees
include $1,000 for set up,
$2,000 per month for five
months and a $15,000
placement fee when the
physician signs a contract
with MCHD. Houser said
that the district needs a
physician for the Irrigon
in rotation for weekend
coverage at Pioneer Me-
morial Hospital, and also a
mid-level provider, such as
a physician’s assistant or
nurse practitioner, for IMC.
-discussed the possibil-
ity of having compliance
officer Tim Timmons “in-
house” at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital for “at least four
hours per week to meet
with individual staff mem-
bers, hold more compliance
trainings, as well as get
acquainted with how things
are done here and how from
a compliance standpoint,
they can be improved.”
Timmons is currently paid
$1,000 per month to serve
as the compliance officer,
although he does not work
at the hospital. To work
in-house for four hours per
week, Timmons would be
compensated at the rate of
$1,400-$1,500 per month.
The district is required to
have a compliance officer.
Timmons also recommend-
ed that board members be
set up with a district email
account so that board busi-
ness won’t be sent to their
private email accounts.
-learned from the Wil-
low Creek Valley Assisted
Living Governance Com-
mittee that there are cur-
rently two openings with
discussions with several
families about possible
placements. The WCVAL
railing completion and the
landscaping project will get
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warns up. The WCVAL
management contract with
MCHD is to be reviewed
and presented to the MCHD
Board at the April meeting.
WCVAL is still seeking a
full-time head cook/man-
ager. The committee also
viewed the new medication
room as well as administra-
tor George Nairns’ office/
work area.
-learned that Patti
Allstott, human resources
director has passed her
SHRM-CP exam and is
now a Society for Human
Resource Management cer-
tified professional.
-heard from Houser
that Pioneer Memorial Hos-
pital and Clinic have signed
an agreement with Western
University of Health Sci-
ences/College of Osteo-
pathic Medicine of the Pa-
cific to allow doctor of os-
teopathy med students to do
rotations with them. Getting
approval for a mid-March
placement is currently in
the works. Houser said that
the district has also signed
an agreement with A.T.
Still University, School
of Osteopathic Medicine
in Arizona for rotation of
their doctor of osteopathy
students.
-approved a request
from Houser to join a Yel-
lowhawk Tribal Health
Center network, which in-
cludes nine other health
facilities and would en-
able the district to receive
free grant writing from
Yellowhawk. Houser that
he has met with Dan Pe-
terson, Yellowhawk grant
writer, to discuss possible
grants available for the
Irrigon Clinic expansion.
Houser said that Peterson
asked MCHD to join the
Oregon Washington Health
Network, along with nine
member organizations: Yel-
lowhawk Tribal Health
Center, Umatilla County
Health Department, St. An-
thony Hospital, Blue Moun-
tain Community College,
Lifeways, Good Shepherd
Hospital and the Morrow
County Health Department,
Providence St. Mary Medi-
cal Center and Walla Walla
County Health Department.
He said that by doing so,
be at no cost to MCHD and
there is no cost to join the
network.
- r e n e w e d D r. D a n
Hambleton’s contract for
three years with the same
changes as Dr. Russel Nich-
ols’ renewal contract.
-learned that additional
employees needed include a
part-time respiratory thera-
pist (administration says it
has a qualified candidate),
a maintenance supervisor,
an RN, an IT technician,
an EMT-A or EMT-1 and
a marketing/public rela-
tions staffer. Board mem-
ber Palmquist questioned
the hiring of a respiratory
therapist; however, Houser
and Chief Financial Officer
Nicole Mahoney assured
the board that not only is a
respiratory therapist needed
for the benefit of patients,
but it would also expand
services, thereby increasing
patient revenue.
-approved “Awarding
Emergency Contracts” for
goods and services and pub-
lic improvements. “Emer-
gency shall be defined as
follows: Circumstances
that (a) could not have rea-
sonably been foreseen; (b)
create substantial risk of
loss, damage or interruption
of services or a substantial
threat to property, public
health, welfare of safety;
and (c) require prompt ex-
ecution of a contract to
remedy the condition.” The
issue came to the surface
when the district lost the
ability to perform endos-
copies because the state
determined there was an
inadequacy in the room
where the endoscopies were
performed and shut the
service down. The district
has been trying to correct
the deficiency, but still es-
timates that it may not be
able to restore the service
until July, subsequent to
another inspection. In the
meantime, MCHD is not
able to offer endoscopies
(including colonoscopies),
inconveniencing patients, at
the least, and losing money
for the district.
“By adopting OAR,
the CEO and the Board of
Directors have deemed that
the closure of endoscopic
LIKE US ON
FACEBOOK
Lack of Planning and Advice
Cost Taxpayer Big $$$$$$
As many of you know, the internet is a tremendous
tool. It allows me to access the same information as a tax
accountant working in any major city. It also allows me
to network with accountants across the nation on profes-
sional forums where ideas are shared and information is
exchanged.
On one of the forums last week, a participant named
“Rosy” anonymously posted a tax trap one of her client
couples had fallen into. She was looking for a way to
help them out. The anonymous couple lived in Portland
and sold their personal residence for a $100,000 gain in
the year 2016. Apparently, they had not contacted their
accountant Rosy before they sold the house. Instead, they
waited to reveal this information to her when they recently
met for a tax preparation appointment.
Generally, a personal residence can be sold tax-free if
the taxpayers have lived in it for at least 24 months before
it was sold. That falls under section 121 of the U.S. tax
code. However, in the case of Rosy’s clients, they had
lived in it for only 23 months. They were now faced with
paying up to $24,000 in taxes on what could have been a
tax-free transaction. They would have not owed any tax
from the sale if they had consulted with their accountant
and held off on closing the sale for another 30 days.
There are situations where a portion of the gain
from a personal residence can be excluded from tax. For
instance, if the couple had sold the house due to health
reasons, a new job or other unforeseen circumstances,
they could have excluded 96 percent of the gain (in this
case 23 months divided by 24 months). Unfortunately, the
couple did not meet any of those exceptions, which would
have reduced the tax from $24,000 to less than $1,000.
Rosy also inquired if a section 1031 tax-free exchange
was allowed under her client’s circumstances. The answer
is no. A 1031 exchange is not allowed for a personal
residence. Besides that, planning for a 1031 exchange
must begin before the property is sold (1031 exchanges
will be discussed in a future article). While it was too
late for this couple, Rosy needs to drill it into the minds
of her clients to consult with her before entering into any
major transaction. It’s like the Portland car dealer Scott
Thomason used to say on the TV ad, “I can’t save you
any money if you don’t come see me....”
The next article will discuss how a botched applica-
tion cost a rodeo association its tax-exempt status. Please
feel free to contact me if you have any questions about
this article.
Daniel Van Schoiack CPA, can be contacted at 541-
676-9971 or danielrvan@yahoo.com. Recent articles can
viewed at danielcpapro.com.
Wranglers to hold
planning meeting
Wranglers Riding Club will hold its first meeting
of this year on Thursday, March 2, at 6:30 p.m., at St.
Patrick’s Catholic Church parish hall.
The club will be discussing this year’s play day dates
and fundraising, among other things. Anyone interested
in participating this year is encouraged to come.
ROAD CLOSURES
-Continued from PAGE ONE
-Strawberry Lane and
-Lloyd Road from
Juniper Canyon Road to Baseline to Strawberry
Ione/Boardman is open to Lane is partly open to local
local traffic only.
traffic.
services at Pioneer Memo-
rial Hospital has caused an
emergency to exist by cre-
ating a substantial loss and
interruption of services that
requires prompt execution
of a construction contract
to correct this condition.”
This will enable Houser to
issue a contract without all
the bids previously required
for $100,000 to less than
$200,000, as long as it will
fix only the emergency
situation.
“I need the ability to
move as quickly as we can,”
said Houser.
-approved surplusing
two Ford Focus vehicles
owned by the district.
-received the follow-
ing report: Pioneer Me-
morial Hospital had three
admissions for January, six
swing bed admissions, six
observation submissions,
450 total out-patients, 52
emergency room encoun-
ters, 1,298 lab tests, 98
x-ray procedures, 14 CT
scans, nine MRI scans, 25
EKG tests, 10 respiratory
therapy procedures; Home
Health had 62 patient visits,
Hospice had one admission,
pharmacy had 1,619 drug
doses for $56,907; Heppner
Ambulance had 28 page-
outs with 17 transports
for $30,812 in revenue;
Boardman Ambulance had
50 page-outs with 30 trans-
ports for $49,331 in rev-
enue; Irrigon Ambulance
had 28 page-outs with 20
transports for $27,981 in
revenue; Ione Ambulance
had one page out, but no
transports; there was one
flight; Pioneer Memorial
Clinic had 403 patient vis-
its with one new patient,
32 seen by a nurse and 18
no-shows; Irrigon Medi-
cal Clinic had 222 patient
visits with 33 new patients,
77 seen by a nurse and 23
no-shows; Ione Community
Clinic had 34 patient visits
with seven new patients,
seven seen by a nurse and
one no-show.
-received the following
financial report, with the
following comment from
Chief Financial Officer
Nicole Mahoney, “I’ll be
brief. We’re in the black.”
MCHD had $737,290 in
gross patient revenue, less
$52,754 for bad debts,
plus $18,102 in contrac-
tual and other adjustments,
$168,350 in tax revenue and
$154,530 in other operating
revenue for $1,025,517
in total operating revenue
for the month; $931,285 in
operating expenses and a
$7,904 non-operating gain
for a $102,137 gain for the
month and a $11,747 aver-
age monthly year-to-date
loss.