Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 28, 2018
WALK/RUN
-Continued from PAGE ONE
no, Windwave and Morrow
County Health district, with
more on board, said Hisler.
The event is in its 10 th
year, commemorating the
late Donna Schonbachler.
The committee organizes
the event each year in her
memory. Donna was hired
in 1991 by Sheridan Tar-
nasky at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital. In 2005 she was
named Oregon’s Home
Care Nurse of the Year. In
2009 a special tribute was
held with proceeds dedi-
cated to Morrow County
Home Health and Hospice.
“Donna wore a lep-
rechaun’s suit for many
years during Heppner’s St.
Patrick’s Celebration and
was an avid walker through
the streets of Heppner. She
was a blessing to us all and
we continue to work on this
event as Friends Helping
Friends,” said Hisler.
Community lunch
menu
St. Patrick’s Parish volunteers will serve lunch on
Wednesday, Mar. 7 at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. Lunch
will be parmesan crusted fish, rice pilaf, summer squash
and zucchini, sliced tomatoes, bread sticks and triple
chocolate pudding for dessert.
Milk is served at each meal. Suggested donation is
$3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change.
ATTENTION:
with Walla Walla VA Medical Center
invites all Veterans & community to a
TOWN HALL MEETING
~ presenting ~
VA MODERNIZATION
Tuesday, March 6th • 10:00am
Irrigon Library (490 NE Main, Irrigon, OR)
VA modernization focuses on
big, bold action based on
Veteran needs and experiences
through a competitive mindset.
Help us meet that goal!
“I vow to turn the VA into the organization Veterans and
families deserve, and one that Americans can take pride in.”
~VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin
NOW
HIRING
DRIVERS
- THREE
Chamber announcements and upcoming
events
Tuesday, Mar. 6 from
10-11:30 a.m., Walla Walla
VA Medical Center Town
Hall meeting. This Town
Hall presentation on VA
Modernization – the next
chapter in VA’s story of
change will be held in the
Irrigon Library and is for all
Veterans and any interested
community members. Mor-
row County transportation
will be provided by The
Loop, call 844-676-5667 to
secure a seat.
Saturday, Mar. 10 from
6-9 p.m., pasta dinner fun-
draiser for DeRina Howard
at the Heppner Elks. This
fundraiser is a benefit to
help offset medical costs
for DeRina and will include
dinner and a silent auction.
Friday, Mar. 16 through
Sunday, Mar. 18, 36 th An-
nual Wee Bit O’ Ireland St.
Patrick’s Celebration. The
St. Patrick’s committee is
busy planning this year’s
event. If you are interested
in volunteering for any part
of the weekend, contact the
Heppner Chamber at 541-
676-5536. Father Condon’s
play “Searching for Mean-
ing” will be performed on
Thursday, Mar. 15 at 7 p.m.
at the St. Patrick’s Parish
Hall.
Monday, Apr. 2 from
12 noon to 2 p.m., ribbon
cutting and open house for
Community Counseling
Solutions new building at
550 W Sperry St. Appetiz-
ers will be provided.
Heppner Public Library
is offering Drop In Teen
Time on the 2 nd and 4 th
Thursdays of every month
at 6 p.m. Contact the Hep-
pner Library at 541-676-
9964 for more information.
Houser receives excellent annual review
The Morrow County
Health District Board gave
MCHD CEO Bob Houser
an “excellent” review at his
annual evaluation Monday
night at their regular meet-
ing at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in Heppner.
“The board greatly ap-
preciates your devotion,
diligence and hard work,”
board Chair John Mur-
ray told Houser on behalf
of the board. “I really do
appreciate all the support
you’ve shown me,” replied
Houser, who noted that the
administration, board and
staff have ”collectively and
collaboratively achieved
a lot.”
Board member Leann
Rea also thanked Houser
for his extensive involve-
ment in all the various town
and community organiza-
tions in Morrow County.
In other business, the
board:
-learned from Houser
that the carpet is being laid
at the former Mountain
Valley Land Company in
Boardman, which the dis-
trict recently purchased to
establish a Home Health
office. Physical therapy and
Murray’s Drug will also
locate there. Houser said
that he anticipates receiving
the building permit Friday,
after which the district will
get the go-ahead to occupy.
-heard from Houser
that hopefully the district
will be able to break ground
on the new Irrigon Clinic
soon. “We’re working on
that,” he said.
-heard from Houser
that the district is explor-
ing hiring a temp nurse to
oversee the Home Health/
Hospice program, since the
search hasn’t yielded any
candidates so far. He said
that the district is continu-
ing searching and has hired
a recruiting firm to assist in
the search.
Houser said that in ad-
dition to the Home Health/
Hospice manager registered
nurse, a Home Health RN
and a hospital RN are also
needed.
-learned from Houser
that Dr. Richard Aballay
is planning to arrive in
Oregon on March 1 and
moving into a home in Ken-
newick March 2-3. Until
then, Houser said that in the
meantime, the doctor will
be familiarizing himself
with the district, updating
his certification and shad-
owing MCHD physicians.
Houser remarked that the
state’s expedited process
of certifying a physician “is
not really any faster than the
old process.”
Houser said that the
state hold-up in Dr. Ab-
allay’s certification stems
from the shut-down of the
clinic that Dr. Aballay had
previously worked for.
-learned from Houser
that Dan Doherty, physi-
cian’s assistant, will be on-
site at the Irrigon Medical
clinic on March 1.
-learned that the em-
ployee recognition banquet
is planned for March 9 at 6
p.m. at the fairgrounds.
-learned that the district
is continuing to work with
Scott Combs, architect with
Clark/Kjos on proposed
new clinic designs. Houser
said Combs is working on
bringing areas of the hos-
pital into the design and
determining the additional
costs that may bring.
-learned that the hos-
pital is continuing to have
heating and cooling is-
sues and that administra-
tion plans to meet with the
company that installed the
system in order to resolve
the issues.
-heard that a rebuilt
engine for the Heppner
backup ambulance has been
ordered. Once it arrives,
Houser said that the am-
bulance will be towed to
Hermiston and will be out
of commission for three-
four weeks for installa-
tion. Houser noted that the
Boardman backup ambu-
lance is in similar shape and
will be taken care of in the
near future.
-received the profit/
loss statement for January
which shows a $115,426
gain for the month. The
district received $981,115
in gross patient revenue,
with $85,237 in revenue
reductions, $149,591 in tax
revenue and $128,513 in
other operating revenue for
$1,173,982 in total revenue,
$1,109,085 in total operat-
ing expenses, a $50,529
non-operating gain, and an
average monthly year-to-
date gain of $34,148.
-received the following
report: Pioneer Memorial
Hospital had six admissions
for the month, two swing
bed admissions, 10 ob-
servation admissions, one
hospital respite admission,
one swing bed admission,
545 total out-patients, 93
emergency room encoun-
ters, 1,842 lab tests, 127
x-ray/ultrasound tests, 29
CT scans, nine MRI scans,
33 EKG tests, six lower
endoscopy procedures and
21 respiratory therapy pro-
cedures; Home Health had
112 patient visits; Hos-
The March LCAC meeting is scheduled for Thurs- pice had two admissions;
day, Mar. 1 at 9 a.m. in the upstairs conference room of Pharmacy had 1,303 drug
the Bartholomew building located at 110 N. Court St. in
Heppner.
LCAC meeting to
be held
Bob Houser
doses for $80,761 in drug
revenue.
-received the following
clinic reports for January:
Pioneer Memorial Clinic
in Heppner had 475 patient
visits with 11 new patients,
36 seen by a nurse and 37
no-shows; Irrigon Medi-
cal Clinic had 239 patient
visits with 13 new patients,
55 seen by a nurse and 34
no-shows; Ione Community
Clinic had 40 patient visits
with seven new patients,
eight seen by a nurse and
zero no-shows.
-received the following
ambulance reports: Hep-
pner Ambulance had 19
page-outs with 19 transports
for $32,195 in revenue;
Boardman Ambulance had
39 page-outs with 24 trans-
ports for $41,751 in rev-
enue; Irrigon had 24 page-
outs, with 16 transports for
$22,721 in revenue; Ione
Ambulance had one page-
out with no transports; there
were three flights.
-approved consent
agenda items including:
Department Head minutes,
EMR minutes-no meeting,
Infection Control minutes,
Quality Improvement min-
utes, Safety minutes, ASA
QA minutes and the Em-
ployee Recognition Com-
mittee.
-held an executive ses-
sion concerning the admin-
istrator’s job performance.
St. Pat’s weekend activities announced
The St. Patrick’s com-
mittee has announced the
addition of some new and
revival of past activities to
the 36 th annual St. Patrick’s
celebration.
The O’Planky race is
returning this year and team
Bed Races will begin after
the Leprechaun Run, ap-
proximately 11:30 a.m. on
Saturday. Entry forms may
be picked up at the chamber
office.
Road bowling has been
moved from Sunday to
Saturday, beginning at 3
p.m. on Balm Fork Road.
Registration is required and
forms may be obtained at
the chamber office.
Murray’s Irish beer
and wine fest, featuring
Dan Burns 3D Productions
will be held at the Mor-
row County fairgrounds
from 8-12 p.m. on Friday.
Food is available for pur-
chase and admission is free,
sponsored by the Morrow
County Unified Recreation
District.
Schedules for all of
the weekend events will be
available soon.
MURRAY'S IRISH BEER
AND WINE FEST
FRIDAY MARCH 16
8 pm -12 am
Join us for a 'Wee Welcome Home
Party" to start the weekend off!
Morrow County Fairgrounds
Food, Fun and Music No admission required
DAN BURNS 3D PRODUCTIONS
-Courtesy of Morrow County Unified Rec. Dist.
MURRAY'S BEER AND WINE
TICKETS
$5.00 EACH OR 5 FOR 20
ID REQUIRED
Food and Non -alcoholic drinks available
for purchase by
St. Patrick’s Altar Society
All ages welcome
Children must be accompanied by an adult