Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 5, 2019 -- SEVEN
Lady Elks host mother-daughter tea
Boardman, Irrigon
Music in the Parks
to begin
The Lady Elks once
again sponsored the moth-
er-daughter tea on May 21
for the graduating senior
girls and their mothers or
guests. This year’s tea was
one of the larger of the past
few years due to the class
size increasing this year.
The ladies were served
a high tea style luncheon
at the local Elks lodge spe-
cially decorated in blue and
gold. They enjoyed the in-
High school senior girls and their mothers were treated to a mother-daughter tea at the Hep-
spiring message of looking pner Elks lodge last week.
to your future knowing that
you have many options and it is ok to explore them and grow into the path you enjoy by Regina Seitz.
Bram Bratá kicks off the Music in the Parks series in Board-
man on June 10.
Health District plans new clinic
The Morrow County
Health District Board voted
to proceed with plans to
build a new health clinic in
Heppner, along with $2-$3
million in upgrades to Pio-
neer Memorial Hospital at
an estimated cost of $7-8
million.
The board decided
against a complete remodel
or rebuild of the hospital at
this time because of costs
involved, estimated at over
$11 million, but may revisit
those plans at a later date.
MCHD Chief Financial
Officer Nicole Mahoney
commented that if MCHD
re-does the clinic, then
the district will have time
to explore the options for
remodeling or rebuilding
the hospital and exploring
funding options.
Insufficient office
space at the clinic has been
an issue for some time and
with new providers coming
in, expansion is considered
critical. Dr. Russ Nichols
commented that it’s “crunch
time” for increasing the
Heppner clinic space. CEO
Bob Houser said that plans
call for doubling the size of
the clinic with some remod-
eling of old space. “We’ve
got a lot of details to work
out with the architect,” he
added.
Providing adequate
space for diagnostic equip-
ment, enabling the clinic
and hospital to keep up
with technology has also
been a priority, along with
remodeling the patients’
bathrooms at the hospital.
Houser reported on the
overwhelming approval of
continuation of the district’s
tax levy and thanked those
who helped with passage
of the measure. The levy
passed in all Morrow Coun-
ty communities totaling
1,629 yes votes to 413 no
votes. Boardman voters
totaled 320 yes to 143 no;
Irrigon voters, 359 yes to
110 no; Lexington, 162 yes
to 33 no; Ione, 186 yes to 40
no; and Heppner/Hardman
voted 602 yes to 87 no.
Houser also reported:
-Danielle Mateleska,
PA-C, has returned from a
Above: Tentative Pioneer Memorial Clinic upper level plans
Below: Tentative PMC lower level plans
seminar and is now certified
to insert and remove IUDs,
along with other women’s
health exams. She has also
completed her CDL testing
and was expected to be
certified shortly, and is also
credentialled with most all
insurers, along with Jon
Watson, PA-C at Irrigon
Medical Clinic.
-Dr. Jim Hejmanowski
has received his Oregon Li-
cense and was working with
district staff to complete all
necessary documentation
for credentialing. Houser
said that they hope that
he will arrive in August to
begin working in the clinic
and emergency room.
-the district was still
interviewing for a mid-level
provider (physician’s assis-
tant or nurse practitioner)
for the Irrigon Clinic,
-nursing staffing for
Home Health and Hos-
pice “is beginning to be a
problem” and the district is
looking at either per diem
nurses or using “travelers”
until the district is able to
hire its own.
-additional employ-
ees needed include: Home
Health & Hospice RN,
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
RN, Irrigon Medical Clinic
mid-level provider, behav-
revenue, for $1,015,718
in total operating reve-
nue, less $1,136,758 in
operating expenses and a
$28,946 non-operating gain
for a $92,094 loss for the
month; a year-to-date loss
of $191,412; and a $19,141
average monthly year-to-
date loss.
-received the follow-
ing report for Pioneer Me-
morial Hospital: three ad-
missions, three swing bed
admissions, six admissions
for observation, 542 total
out-patients, 74 emergency
room encounters, 1,747 lab
tests, 102 x-ray, ultrasound
tests, 15 CT scans, three
MRI tests, 15 EKG tests,
six lower endoscopy proce-
dures, one upper endoscopy
procedure, 52 respiratory
therapy procedures.
-received a report of 75
Home Health visits and two
Hospice admissions for the
month.
-received the pharmacy
report of 4,265 drug doses
for $93,876 in revenue.
-received the following
ambulance report: Heppner
Ambulance had 28 page-
outs with 23 transports
for $35,574 in revenue;
Boardman Ambulance had
44 page-outs with 30 trans-
ports for $55,878 in rev-
enue; Irrigon Ambulance
had 35 page-outs with 19
transports for $29,158 in
revenue; Ione Ambulance
had two page-outs with no
transports; there were six
life flights.
-received the following
clinic reports: Pioneer Me-
morial Clinic in Heppner
had 352 patient visits with
four new patients, 20 seen
by a nurse and 18 no-shows;
Irrigon Medical Clinic had
267 patient visits with 19
new patients, 138 seen by
a nurse and 26 no-shows;
Ione Community Clinic had
51 patient visits with seven
new patients, six seen by a
nurse and three no-shows.
ioral health licensed clinic
social worker, behavioral
case manager for the dis-
trict, a part-time dietician
and a Pioneer Memorial
Clinic manager.
-the district is having
some problems finding
parts for their x-ray ma-
chine. The x-ray company
indicated that they will be
issuing an “end of life”
letter to the district for the
unit. The item will be put
on the budget for the next
fiscal year, but the district
may have to replace the
unit earlier if parts become
unavailable. Cost of a new
unit and modification to the
x-ray room is estimated at
around $190,000.
-the district awarded a
$375 grant to Edith Gonza-
les, Irrigon High School, to
pay for tuition to the Med
Quest camp to be held June
17-21. She plans to be an
orthodontist.
In other business, the
board:
-received the following
profit and loss statement
through April from CFO
Mahoney: the district had
$968,054 in gross patient
revenue, less $123,564 in
revenue deductions, plus
Nazarene/Christian
$160,914 in tax revenue and
volunteers
will serve lunch
$10,313 in other operating
on Wednesday, June 12 at
St. Patrick’s Senior Center.
Lunch will navy beans
and ham, coleslaw, slice
tomatoes, corn muffins and
chocolate pie for dessert.
Milk, coffee and tea is
served at each meal. Sug-
gested donation is $3.50
per meal. Menu is subject
to change.
Community
lunch menu
The cities of Boardman
and Irrigon will kick-off
their Music in the Parks
outdoor summer concert
series Monday, June 10.
The first performer of the
year will be the steel drum
band Bram Bratá at the
Boardman Marina Park at 7
p.m., located off of N. Main
Street on Marine Drive.
Bram Bratá is the se-
nior steel drum band from
the Tri-Cities Steel Band
Association in Richland,
WA. The name Bram
Bratá is derived from two
Trinidadian slang words
meaning “an unexpected
party.” Audiences find this
a fitting name as they enjoy
the challenging and varied
repertoire of Caribbean,
jazz, popular and even clas-
sical music. Spontaneous
dancing is not uncommon.
Mr. Ben Leggett directs
Bram Bratá and arranges
or writes most of the mu-
sic. The band practices
twice a week and performs
on the average about two
times/month in the com-
munity and throughout the
Northwest. Bram Bratá has
performed in Hawaii, Dis-
neyland, and at Caribbean
Music Festivals in Oregon
and British Columbia. Steel
drums are remarkably ver-
satile instruments. Bram
Bratá plays an eclectic mix
of traditional Trinidadian
steel drum music, Caribbe-
an favorites, jazz, classical
and modern pop and rock
tunes.
The Music in the Parks
concert series is held each
summer alternating be-
tween Boardman and Ir-
rigon Marina Parks. The
concerts are free to the pub-
lic and begin at 7 p.m. on
Mondays through August
12. Visitors are encour-
aged to bring chairs and
blankets. Concessions will
be available for purchase
at the Boardman events,
courtesy of the Boardman
Little League. The Music
in the Parks series is fund-
ed by the Morrow County
Unified Recreation District
and Portland General Elec-
tric and sponsored by the
North Morrow Community
Foundation.
Additional dates and
performers during the sea-
son include the Wasteland
Kings in Irrigon on June
17; Latino rock band Aze-
tatos are in Boardman on
June 24; singing duo 98%
Angels on July 1 in Irrigon;
Brady Goss, the piano man,
will perform in Boardman
on July 8; Martin Ger-
schwitz will be in Irrigon
on July 15; Cruise Control
in Boardman on July 22; on
July 29 in Irrigon is Latino
band Fonozis; Bluegrass
trio Cosmo’s Dream is in
Boardman on August 5
and in Irrigon on August
12 is country performer
Cale Moon. In the event of
inclement weather, Board-
man performances will be
held at the SAGE Center
and Irrigon performances
will be held at the Irrigon
Senior Center.
For more information
about the Music in the Parks
concert series, contact Jack-
ie at 541-720-1289.
Heppner students to
graduate at OSU
Oregon State Universi-
ty will hold its 150 th com-
mencement on Saturday,
June 15, beginning at 10:30
a.m. in Reser Stadium.
Heppner students who
will be graduating are Cait-
lynn N. Bailey, Bachelor
of Science, Management;
Makenzi K. Hughes, Bach-
elor of Science, Agricul-
tural Sciences; Mekayla S.
Kindle, Bachelor of Sci-
ence, Magna Cum Laude,
Education, Bachelor of Sci-
ence, Magna Cum Laude,
Human Development and
Family Sciences; Earl J.
Propheter, Bachelor of Sci-
ence, Business Information
Systems, Bachelor of Sci-
ence, Accountancy; John
B. Propheter, Bachelor of
Science, Horticulture.
The commencement
speaker is Jane Lubchen-
co, a marine ecologist and
world-renowned leader in
environmental research.
Lubchenco, a distinguished
professor at Oregon State
and former administrator
of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Admin-
istration, will receive an
honorary doctorate degree
in ocean, earth and atmo-
spheric sciences at the cer-
emony.
Commencement is free
and open to the public; no
tickets are necessary. OSU
is one of the few large
universities in the nation to
hand out students’ actual
diplomas during the com-
mencement ceremony.
Man charged in assault
of his wife
Morrow County Dis-
trict Attorney Justin Nelson
told the Gazette that his
office is arraigning Gerald
John Kamph, 63, of Ione
on charges related to the
beating of his spouse. He
was taken into custody at
180 S. Birch St. on Sunday
morning.
The suspect told law
enforcement officers that
he is his spouse’s caregiver
Nelson reported. That en-
hanced the charges against
him, adding a charge of fel-
ony second-degree assault
to two counts of criminal
mistreatment and another
count of third-degree as-
sault. The injuries alleged-
ly caused by Kamph are
severe.
Gerald John Kamph
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