FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 28, 2017
A View from the Hill
By Doris Brosnan
After his three-month
stay at Willow Creek Ter-
race, Ray Harper will be
returning to his Western
Oregon home soon, and
his short-term neighbors
will miss his contributions
to life on the Hill. Ray’s
departure will increase the
number of available apart-
ments to two, so interested
persons should call 541-
676-0004 for information.
This change on the Hill
comes at a fairly quiet time,
as Residents are content to
participate in the weekly
Terrace discussions and
activities and enjoy, and
sometimes laugh at, those
“special, designated days”
on the calendar.
Long-awaited has the
been the calendar date and
the change in the weather
that indicate that Sum-
mer has truly arrived. With
those come more time on
the patio, more use of the
barbecue grill, more walks
around the Terrace, more
interest in the enclosed
raised-garden-bed produce,
and more curiosity about
the progress on the soon-
to-be landscaped lot.
Several visitors spent
time with fathers and grand-
fathers at the Terrace on Fa-
ther’s Day. Several visitors
might spend some time with
the Community on July 24
because it will be “Tell a
Joke Day,” and the Terrace
plans to hold an evening
of joke-telling. Everyone
is invited to come with a
joke or few, so interested
persons should call the Ter-
race to get on the evening’s
list of entertainers. Readers
should mark their calendars
and plan to attend for some
laughs even if not wanting
to share jokes.
Since “Vanilla Ice
Cream Day” falls on the
July 23, maybe those jokes
can be interspersed with
some ice cream? Individu-
als who gather to share the
news from the Gazette-
Times on Wednesdays have
been enjoying ice cream
treats while sharing, and
July also offers “Strawberry
Sundae Day” (July 7) and
“Hot Fudge Sundae Day”
(25 th ).
If readers are looking
for some menu ideas for
The View from the Green
July, they might appreci-
ate knowing that “Fried
Chicken Day” is on the
sixth, “Macaroni Day” is
on the 15 th , “Corn Fritters”
are recognized on the 16 th ,
“Hot Dog Day” is on the
23 rd , “Salad” will be fea-
tured during the week of
25 th -31 st , “Cheesecake” and
“Chicken” and “Waffles”
and “Chili Dogs” will all
be celebrated on July 30! (A
challenge to figure out how
to serve them all?)
Since July 1 is “Build a
Scarecrow Day,” the Staff
and Residents are figuring
out how to create a small
scarecrow for the sides of
their raised garden bed.
On July 4, they will have
options for celebrating the
Nation’s Independence,
and the morning conversa-
tion will focus on country
music—their favorite artists
and the changes in the genre
over recent years. Sev-
eral specially recognized
days will fill the calendar
again, but some people
are wondering what the
morning conversations will
be on “Different Colored
Eyes Day” (12 ) and “Em-
brace Your Geekness Day”
(13 th ). “I Love Horses Day”
should stimulate some fond
memories, as will “Day of
the Cowboy” (22 nd ), since
many Residents have lived
in our Cowboy Country
for many years and one
cowboy now resides in the
Terrace. Fond memories
will probably surface, also,
on “Gorgeous Grandma
Day” (23 rd ) and “Mutts
Day” (31 st ).
So, as mentioned ear-
lier, some pretty quiet days
seem to be ahead on the
Hill, but July guarantees
some interesting morn-
ing discussions, some
great foods, a chance to
tell jokes and laugh a lot,
and… “Happy Birthday”
moments for Donna Berg-
strom, who will celebrate
her birthday on July 8 and
for Meg Murray, who will
be blowin’ out the candles
on the 12 th . The view at the
Hill doesn’t get any better
than that of the smiles on
the faces of birthday cel-
ebrants and their neighbors
and families.
th
WCCC ladies hold
nine-hole invitational
The Willow Creek
Country Club held its Nine-
Hole Ladies Invitational
on June 20. Thirty-nine
women, representing six
clubs from Walla Walla, La
Grande, and the Tri Cities,
were guests of the WCCC
Ladies Club.
The champions over-
all were Nancy Propheter
(WCCC), low gross of the
field, and Eva Kilkenny
(WCCC), low net of the
field. Awards also were
given to each club. Local
winners from WCCC were
Virginia Grant with low
gross and Pat Dougherty
with low net.
Local special play
awards went to Nancy
Propheter for long drive and
KP 2 nd shot, Karen Hague-
wood for KP 1 st shot, and
Della Heideman for long
putt. Karen Haguewood had
a chip-in on hole #6, Della
Heideman had a birdie on
hole #1 and Nancy Proph-
eter had a birdie on hole #5.
Breakfast and lunch
were served to guests and
members, with raffles, door
prizes and gifts awarded.
Attendees reported a fun
time.
Bram Brata at
Heppner Music in
the Park July 9
HEALTH DISTRICT
-Continued from PAGE ONE remodel will add another iff, dispatch, nursing and scans, 24 EKG tests, eight The Bram Brata steel drum band will be in Heppner July 9.
gon. He said he anticipates
her receiving her Oregon
license within 45-60 days.
Dr. Johnston, who cur-
rently lives in Tri-Cities, has
been an assistant professor
at Pacific Northwest Uni-
versity of Health Sciences
and is currently in private
practice. Houser said Dr.
Russ Nichols and Dr. Dan
Hambleton will mentor her
until she becomes familiar
with her routine at the Ir-
rigon Clinic, but after that
training period, Dr. Nichols
and Dr. Hambleton’s sched-
ule at the Irrigon Clinic will
decrease and it is expected
that they will spend more
time at Pioneer Memorial
Clinic and Hospital.
Houser also reported
that he expects that a nurse
will be hired for Heppner
once the nurse passes his
RN test in July. Houser said
he is also in the process of
setting up interviews for the
EMT/paramedic position.
In other business, the
board:
-approved a $54,525
contract with Pinnacle for
architectural services for
the Irrigon Clinic remodel.
The other bid was from
Clark KJOS for $61,442.
Board member Leann Rea
commented that both bids
were from “good compa-
nies.” “Pinnacle is a good
quality firm,” echoed Hous-
er. Houser said that the
five exam rooms to the Ir-
rigon Clinic, will turn the
current waiting room into
physicians’ offices, and will
add a new waiting, recep-
tion and discharge area.
The remodel will increase
the current 1,500 square
foot clinic by an additional
2,100 square feet.
Houser said that the
district has applied for a
$250,000 grant from the
Ford Foundation for the
Irrigon Medical Clinic ex-
pansion and anticipates
submitting a $24,000 grant
to the Wildhorse Founda-
tion by July 1, as well as
one to the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation and
one to the Good Shepherd
Foundation.
-learned from Houser
that the home health/hos-
pice department move to
Main Street in Heppner has
been completed. He said
that home health was sur-
veyed by Medicare on June
14 and passed with zero de-
ficiencies or recommenda-
tions and is now approved
to conduct business at the
new location. He also re-
ported that the maintenance
department will move to the
annex building within the
next month.
-learned from Houser
that a tabletop disaster drill
was held at PMH on June
15 with representatives
from fire, ambulance, sher-
state EMS/OHA (Oregon
Health Authority) and PMH
administration. He said that
a “go live” exercise will
be held Oct. 5 and will be
an “active shooter/hostage
situation at the hospital.”
Houser said that all hos-
pitals receiving Medicare/
Medicaid reimbursement
are required to have such
drills.
-learned that ultrasound
procedures will be offered
at the Irrigon Clinic with
a flexible schedule to start
with at first. The portable
ultrasound machine is now
located at IMC.
-received the following
profit and loss statement
for May: $823,971 in gross
patient revenue, $156,084
in revenue deductions and
bad debts, $168,350 in tax
revenue and $69,247 in
other operating revenue for
$905,484 in total operating
revenue, $933,439 in total
operating expenses, and
a $29,321 non-operating
gain for a $1,366 gain for
the month.
-received the following
report: Pioneer Memorial
Hospital had seven acute
(inpatient) admissions for
May, two swing bed ad-
missions, nine for observa-
tion, one swing admission,
481 outpatients, 66 ER
encounters, 1,888 lab tests,
95 x-ray/ultrasound tests,
28 CT scans, three MRI
respiratory therapy proce-
dures; home health had 109
patient visits; hospice had
one admission; pharmacy
had $52,091 in revenue;
Heppner ambulance had
28 page-outs with 23 trans-
ports for $43,337; Ione
ambulance had two page-
outs with one transport for
$1,611; there were five life
flights; Pioneer Memorial
Clinic had 418 patient vis-
its, 29 seen by a nurse and
21 no-shows; Ione Commu-
nity Clinic had 19 patient
visits, 10 seen by a nurse
and zero no-shows.
-heard comments from
board member Perry who
questioned why the district
has so much equipment, but
not enough space to house
the equipment and thus of-
fer patient testing. Mahoney
replied that the district must
continue to provide up-to-
date testing for its patients
and added that some equip-
ment not used as often can
be moved in and out of
a testing room to accom-
modate physicians’ orders.
She added that the district is
working on finding enough
space to conduct the proce-
dures. Recent moves that
will open up space at PMH
include home health and
hospice moving to Main
Street and the maintenance
department moving to the
annex the district recently
purchased.
NOW
HIRING
DRIVERS
-Contributed photo
The Tri-Cities steel
drum band Bram Brata re-
turns to Heppner on July 9
for the next concert in this
summer’s Music in the Park
series. This energetic and
entertaining group of young
musicians offers a lively
assortment of Caribbean
tunes and other familiar fa-
vorites that have made this
concert one of Heppner’s
annual favorites.
Concerts are held on
the second Sunday of each
summer month from 5 p.m.
to 7 p.m. at Heppner City
Park on Main Street, and
are funded by the Morrow
County Unified Recreation
District. The Shared Min-
istry of Hope Lutheran
Church and All Saints Epis-
copal Church facilitates
this concert series and will
again offer pulled pork
sandwiches and all the trim-
mings to raise funds for
its well-drilling ministry
through Living Water In-
ternational.
Upcoming concerts in-
clude Elwood on Aug. 13
and Eric Jepsen and John
Wambeke on Sept. 10.
MCGG to hold raffle
drawing Friday to
support John Nelson
For the past several
months, Morrow County
Grain Growers has spon-
sored a raffle to benefit local
man John Nelson, to help
with his travel and medical
expenses while he under-
goes treatment for a serious
illness. The raffle drawing
will take place this Friday,
June 30, at 2 p.m. at the
MCGG Lexington location.
The raffle item is a
Camp Chef Pellet Grill
and Smoker, and tickets can
be purchased at MCGG or
MCGG Green Feed. The
tickets will sell for $5 each,
or five for $20. MCGG will
have cookies and punch
set out that day, and invites
This barbecue is being raffled
to benefit local man John Nel-
son. -Contributed photo
community members to
come purchase last-minute
tickets prior to the raffle and
browse the store while they
wait for the drawing.
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