FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Hospital to receive new boilers
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District Board ap-
proved the purchase of two
new boilers and hot water
heaters for Pioneer Memo-
rial Hospital in Heppner.
CEO Bob Houser told the
board that while the pur-
chase of the boiler systems
had already been budgeted,
the price has increased
since then.
The board said they
hoped to coordinate the
installation of the boilers to
allow for the least possible
disruption, but installation
is expected to shut down the
heating system for the hos-
pital for at least one week.
“We need a week of really
nice weather,” said Houser.
“The question we need to
ask is, can we do one boiler
at a time.” “It would be nice
if they could install one and
then install the other,” he
said. He planned to ask that
question of Apollo Heating
and Air Conditioning.
Cost for materials, labor
and subcontractor for two
boiler systems plus freight
was $131,859.50 from
Apollo. Cost for replace-
ment of hot water heaters to
AO Smith Cyclone heaters
was $34,648.84.
In other business, the
board:
-approved the purchase
of a Subaru Forester for
Home Health from Harley
Swain Subaru in Hermiston
for $26,223.
-received the following
staffing information from
Houser: Jamie Reed, CSW,
was hired for the behav-
ioral health position at the
Irrigon Medical Clinic;
Ronda Cox, LCSW, was
offered a contract for the
behavioral health position
at Pioneer Memorial Clinic;
David Collins, physician’s
assistant, started at Irrigon
Medical Clinic October 21
and is currently being cre-
dentialed.
-learned that the Pio-
neer Memorial Hospital lab
received no deficiencies at a
lab inspection. Lab Director
Betty Hickerson informed
of the results.
-learned that all the
apartments at Willow Creek
Valley Assisted Living were
full as of October 28. The
Governing Board approved
annual salary increases and
room rate increases for
2020.
-heard from Houser of
the possibility of meeting
with representatives of Co-
lumbia River Community
Health Clinic in Boardman
to discuss the possibility of
sharing a dietician.
-heard from Houser
that MCHD is taking part
in the InterMountain ESD
student intern program. The
Fall bazaar to be
held
Holly Rebekah Lodge
will be hosting their sec-
ond annual Fall Bazaar
on Saturday, Nov. 9 from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the
Lodge Hall in Lexington.
Participating vendors will
showcase Posh, Norwex,
Roden and Field, Young
Living, LuLaRoe, SubRosa
soap, Paparazzi, Lipsense,
Scentsy, Arbonne, hand-
made arts and crafts, Thir-
ty-one, Montana purses and
district currently has one
student intern at Pioneer
Memorial Clinic, Sydney
Wilson, and plans to expand
the program to include Irri-
gon Medical Clinic because
a student from Irrigon has
expressed interest in intern-
ing there.
-submitted a bid on
land in Irrigon currently
owned by CAPECO.
-received the following
profit and loss statement
through September. The
district received $1,101,150
in gross patient revenue,
less $6,383 for bad debts,
plus $12,820 in contractu-
al and other adjustments,
$165,790 in tax revenue and
$32,497 in other operating
revenue for $1,305,874 in
total operating revenue;
less $1,253,250 in total
operating expenses and a
$25,482 non-operating gain
for a $78,106 profit for the
month.
-received the follow-
ing clinic reports for Sep-
tember: Pioneer Memorial
Clinic in Heppner had 384
patient visits, 16 new pa-
tients, 20 seen by a nurse
and 17 no-shows; Irrigon
Medical Clinic had 306 pa-
tient visits, 15 new patients,
137 seen by a nurse and 40
no shows; Ione Community
Clinic had 62 patient visits,
with one new patient, 11
seen by a nurse and one no
show.
-received the following
ambulance report for Sep-
tember: Heppner Ambu-
lance had 26 page-outs with
21 transports for $35,800 in
revenue; Boardman Ambu-
lance had 46 page-outs with
21 transports for $39,075
in revenue; Irrigon Ambu-
lance had 37 page-outs with
16 transports for $23,338 in
revenue; Ione Ambulance
had no transports.
-received the following
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
report: 10 in-patient admis-
sions in September, four
swing bed admissions, 10
admissions for observation,
one swing bed non-skilled
admission, 544 total out-pa-
tients with ER, 88 emergen-
cy room encounters, one
death, 110 x-ray, ultrasound
tests, 37 CT scans, five MRI
scans, 27 EKG tests, five
lower endoscopy proce-
dures, two upper endoscopy
procedures, 57 respiratory
therapy procedures.
-received notice of 104
Home Health visits, with
one death and one Hospice
admission
-received the following
pharmacy report: 2,470
drug doses for the month
with $68,455 in revenue.
-learned that the retire-
ment party for Cyde Estes,
retiring Hospice volunteer,
is planned for November
14 from 1-3 p.m., with a
presentation at 2 p.m. at the
Home Health office, 162 N
Main, Heppner.
The next meeting is
scheduled for Monday, No-
vember 25, at 6 p.m. for the
provider dinner and 6:30
p.m. for the board meet-
ing at Pioneer Memorial
Clinic conference room in
Heppner.
Amelia’s handcrafts.
A variety of soups will
be available to choose from
for a lunch of a bowl of
soup, roll, cookie and cof-
fee for $5. Also available
for sale will be cookies
and cinnamon rolls, bottled
water, coffee, tea and hot
chocolate.
The Heppner Daycare team is $150, which breaks
For additional informa-
will
again sponsor Mr. down to just $25 per person
tion or to sign up as a ven-
Bill’s
Trivia, on November on a team of the allowed
dor call Mary Kay Bellamy
15,
beginning
at 7 p.m. and suggested six members.
at 541-379-3567.
at the Heppner Elks. The Though individual team
event is a fundraiser for the members often pay their
nonprofit organization.
own entry fees, sponsors
Entry forms are avail- may be recruited.
able at Heppner Daycare.
The members of the
Also available this year three top-scoring teams
is the option to register at Mr. Bill’s will receive
your team on the Daycare’s prizes, as well as bragging
Facebook page. Though rights. However, every par-
teams may enter on the ticipant will have an equal
The process of buying a house can be
evening of the show, early opportunity to win a door
complicated and sometimes
entries are strongly en- prize at some point in the
frustrating, even if you’ve got the cash
couraged. A table will be evening.
on hand to complete the sale
reserved with the team
The Daycare will also
immediately.
name
for
every
early
entry.
be
raffling
baskets filled
Finding a good Realtor who can help
Early
entries
will
help
with
with
all
kinds
of goodies.
you through the process can alleviate
starting
the
show
on
time
Teams
are
asked
to pick up
some of the stress and make the home
and
help
to
prevent
delays
an
entry
form
and
return it
buying process much easier.
at
the
door.
to
the
daycare
as
soon as
Following aresome of the most com-
The
entry
fee
for
each
possible.
mon steps and tips to finding and
buying your new home.
Getting Ready to Go
Unless you have cash in the bank (or
a rich relative to help you out) the first
place you will want to stop is at your
local bank. Most banks have a
mortgage department where you will
SILVERSCRIPT
find knowledgeable loan specialists
WELLCARE
waiting to help you. Their job is to find
the right home loan for you. There are
CLEAR SPRINGS HEALTH
different kinds of loans such as FHA,
CIGNA HEALTHSPRING
Conventional, USDA and VA and your
ENVISION
loan specialist will determine which is
EXPRESS SCRIPTS
best for you.
Meeting with your loan specialists
AARP
will also include getting “prequalified”
AARP WALGREENS
or determining how big a loan, and
MUTUAL OF OMAHA
consequently how much of a house you
will be able to afford. Your lender will
ASURIS MEDICARE SCRIPT
ask for information about your income,
ENHANCED
credit rating and other details to make
Medicare Advantage plans:
that determination.
Going through this process can
MODA HEALTH PPO
take some time and involve bank
*Please note we are NOT a provider for Humana
documents, wage records and other
financial information, but don’t get
Enrollment ends December 7th.
discouraged.
Want to know when your prescriptions are ready?
The fun part is soon to begin!
Next time the fun part:
Ask the pharmacy about text alerts.
Shopping for your perfect home!
MURRAY'S 2020
MEDICARE PART D PLANS
David Sykes
Principal Broker
188 W. Willow
Heppner, OR 97836
541-980-6674
david@rapidserve.net
Kimberly Carter of
Ione has earned a Bachelor
of Arts, Educational Studies
degree from Western Gov-
ernors University (WGU).
The online, nonprofit uni-
versity held its commence-
ment ceremonies in the
spring and summer of this
year to celebrate the recent
graduation of more than
10,000 students from across
the country.
WGU has recognized
5,750 undergraduate and
4,488 graduate degree re-
cipients, who have com-
pleted their degrees since
June 24, 2019. Their areas
of study include business,
K-12 education, informa-
tion technology and health
professions, including nurs-
ing. The average time to
graduation for those earn-
ing a bachelor’s degree was
two years, three months,
while the average time to
degree for graduate pro-
grams was one year, seven
months. The average age
for those who graduated is
38 years old.
WGU pioneered com-
petency-based education,
which measures learning
rather than time spent in
class. Designed to meet the
needs of working adults,
students’ study and learn
on their own schedules with
individualized, one-to-one
faculty support. They com-
plete courses as soon as
they demonstrate that they
have mastered the subject
matter; allowing them to
move quickly through ma-
terial they already know so
they can allocate time for
what they still need to learn.
As a result, many WGU stu-
dents are able to accelerate
their studies, saving both
time and money.
COLDEST
-Continued from PAGE ONE
Precipitation this year
has reached 12.39 inches,
which is 1.31 inches above
normal.
The outlook for No-
vember from NOAA’s Cli-
mate Prediction Center
calls for above normal tem-
peratures and near normal
precipitation. Normal highs
for Heppner fall from 57.0
degrees at the start of No-
vember to 45.0 degrees
at the end of November.
Normal lows fall from 35.0
degrees to 28.0 degrees.
The 30-year normal precip-
itation is 1.60 inches.
This was the coldest
October on record. The
previous coldest was 45.8
degrees in 1949.
Nominations for Hep-
pner Chamber ’s Town
and Country Communi-
ty Awards Event will be
accepted beginning Fri-
day, November 15 through
Friday, January 10, 2020.
Nomination forms will
be available for commu-
nity members to submit
nominations for Woman of
the Year, Man of the Year,
Business of the Year, Cit-
izen-Educator of the Year,
Lifetime Achievement and
Youth Award.
The nomination form
must be completed and
turned into the Heppner
Chamber or Kuhn Law
Offices no later than Friday,
January 10, 2020 to be con-
sidered as a recipient for the
2019 Community Awards
Event.
The awards event will
be held Thursday, February
6, 2020 in the Gilliam Bis-
bee building.
Mr. Bill’s traveling
trivia show returns
Nominations open
to Heppner
for awards event
Tips and information on
buying your home
Tip #1
Sykes Real Estate
Ione resident earns
degree from WGU
Sign up for our auto-refill program.
Shingrix Vaccine available at the pharmacy.
217 North Main St., Heppner Phone 676-9158 • Floral 676-9426
www.murraysdrug.com
Marriage Licenses
The Morrow County Clerk’s office has released the
following report of marriage licenses:
October 3, 2019: - Alice Faye Stanley, 67, Irrigon,
and Scott Richard Sherer, 59, Irrigon.
October 15, 2019: - Tommy Joe Hines, 37, Heppner,
and Lacey Colleen Jensen, 34, Heppner.
October 17, 2019: - Chase Michel Townsend, 18,
Irrigon, and Kaitlynn Marie Wells, 18, Irrigon.
October 22, 2019: - Katelyn Michelle Siri, 27, Hep-
pner, and Ian Andrew Murray, 27, Heppner.
October 24, 2019: - Mary L Smith, 48, Irrigon, and
David L Volquardsen, 51, Irrigon.
Scholastic Book
Fair coming to Ione
The Scholastic Book Fair, sponsored by the Ione
Topic Club, will be held in the Ione elementary school
gym Nov. 6 and 7 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All purchases
benefit the children in the Ione schools.
The book fair is a reading event that brings the books
kids want to read right into the school. There is a selection
of engaging and affordable books for every reading level.
For those unable to attend the book fair, the online
book fair is available at www.scholastic.com/bf/ione
through Nov. 15.
Wheatland is hosting our annual food drive. We will
be accepting donations of non-perishable food items
throughout November and December. Please stop by
your local Heppner and Ione offices and help us help
our neighbors in need. All donations will be donated
to the Neighborhood Center and distributed
throughout South Morrow County.
Office hours 8 – 5 Monday – Friday