FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Health District to receive funds from wind entity
Morrow County Health
District CEO Bob Houser
told the board, at their Nov.
25 meeting in Heppner, the
district expects to receive
around $168,000 per year
for 15 years as a result of
negotiated payments from
Orchard Winds, a wind en-
tity. Houser said payments
to the district are expected
to continue for the next 15
years. The board approved
a n i n t e rg o v e r n m e n t a l
agreement for distribution
of the Orchard Winds Stra-
tegic Investment Program
Community Service Fees.
The board had other
good news, learning the
district ended up $84,763 in
the black for October.
I n o t h e r bus ines s ,
Houser told the board the
boilers and hot water heat-
ers were successfully in-
stalled at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in Heppner. He
said that the boilers were
able to be installed one at a
time, so the facility was not
without heat.
The board appointed
Houser and board Chair
John Murray to negotiate a
$135,000 loan through the
Bank of Eastern Oregon
at an interest rate of 4.15
percent to pay for instal-
lation of the boilers. Chief
Financial Officer Nicole
Mahoney said the district
has not yet received approv-
al from USDA but does not
anticipate any difficulty.
The board also heard
Molly Rhea, R.N., has been
hired as the new Home
Health and Hospice direc-
tor. The district has also
hired Jackie Alleman as
the new volunteer Home
Health and Hospice coor-
dinator.
In other business, the
board:
-learned Vicki Kent,
nurse practitioner, is leav-
ing the health district to
work at a sleep center in
Hermiston. Houser said
the district has interviewed
several individuals for a
mid-level provider posi-
tion at the Irrigon Medical
Clinic. He added Amanda
Fabian, PA-C is scheduled
to assist the district in Jan-
uary and February, working
in the Ione, Heppner and
Irrigon clinics while Nurse
Practitioner Betty Hamill is
out on medical leave, prior
to finding a replacement for
Fabian. Dr. Emily Thomp-
son Jack, who is from Hep-
pner, will be completing
a rotation at Pioneer Me-
morial Clinic and Pioneer
Memorial Hospital.
-learned the flooring
for the clinic remodel was
not adequately priced out
and the estimate must be
recalculated for flooring in
all areas, with the possibil-
ity of asbestos abatement if
asbestos is discovered.
-approved the 2020
board meeting calendar as
follows: January 27-Ione
Community Church, 7 p.m.;
February 24-Pioneer Me-
morial Clinic Conference
Room, Heppner, dinner at 6
p.m., board meeting at 6:30
p.m.; March 30, Sand Hol-
low Room, Port of Morrow,
Boardman, 7 p.m.; April 27,
MCGG Conference Room,
Chamber Chatter
November through De-
cember, annual food drive
organized by Wheatland
Insurance. Wheatland In-
surance will be accepting
donations of non-perishable
food items at the Wheatland
offices in Heppner and
Ione. All donations will be
donated to the Neighbor-
hood Center and distributed
throughout south Morrow
County. Wheatland offices
are open from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. Mon.-Fri.
Morrow County Foster
Children Gift Drive Giving
Tree set up at Les Schwab.
Stop by and take a tag from
the giving tree, return un-
wrapped gift by December
9 with the tag attached.
You don’t have to purchase
everything on the list, give
what you can. If you take
a tag, please buy the gift.
If you change your mind,
bring the tag back and put
it on the tree for someone
else to take.
Friday, November 15
through Friday, January
10, 2020, Nominations for
Heppner Chamber’s Town
and Country Community
Awards Event will be ac-
cepted. Nomination forms
will be available for com-
munity 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. Nomination
forms will be available at
the Bank of Eastern Ore-
gon, Chamber Office, Com-
munity Bank, Heppner City
Hall and Kuhn Law Office.
You can also obtain a form
by contacting the Chamber
office at 541-676-5536 or
by email at heppnercham-
ber@centurytel.net. The
completed nominations
must be turned into the
Heppner Chamber or Kuhn
Law Offices no later than
Friday, January 10, 2020 to
be considered for the 2019
Community Awards Event.
Monday, November 18
through Thursday, Decem-
ber 12, Rewards Cards in
denominations of $10, $20
and $50 will be given out
for the amount of purchase
when shopping at partici-
pating merchants in prepa-
ration of Heppner Cham-
ber’s Celebrate Christmas
Event. Collect and bring
them to the event Thursday,
December 12 for a chance
to win prizes.
Monday, November 25
through Friday, December
13, Neighborhood Center
Giving Tree at Heppner
Market Fresh. Stop by and
pick a name from the tree
and purchase a gift for a lo-
cal family member in Hep-
pner. Contact the Neighbor-
hood Center if you have any
Save the Date
Wine & Design
-Unique Holiday Design-
Sunday, December 15th
Call Merry at The Country Rose
541-676-9426
Check Facebook for more details
Wedding Table
Katie Siri
&
Ian Murray
December 7th
217 North Main St.,
Heppner, OR
Phone 676-9158
www.murraysdrug.com Floral 676-9426
Lexington, 7 p.m.; May 18,
PMC Conference Room,
dinner at 6 p.m., meeting at
6:30 p.m.; June 29, Irrigon
Medical Clinic, Irrigon, 7
p.m.; July 27, Ione Commu-
nity Church, 7 p.m.; August
31, dinner 6 p.m., meeting
6:30 p.m., PMC Confer-
ence Room; September 28,
Sand Hollow Room, Port
of Morrow, Boardman, 7
p.m.; October 26, MCGG
Conference Room, Lexing-
ton, 7 p.m.; November 30,
dinner at 6 p.m., meeting at
6:30 p.m., PMC Conference
Room, Heppner; December
28-undetermined if a meet-
ing will be held.
-learned an Automatic
External Defibrillator unit,
donated to the city by the
health district, has been
installed at Heppner City
Hall in the community/
meeting room.
-approved credential-
ing for Dr. John Gambino, a
radiologist, in the event the
district’s current radiologist
is unavailable.
-heard from Houser
the district will meet with
law enforcement on Dec.
4 to finish preparations on
the upcoming disaster drill
which will include plans
for dealing with an active
shooter at the hospital.
-heard that the district
held a meet and greet for
David Collins, physician’s
assistant at the Irrigon Med-
ical Clinic.
-learned an RN is still
needed for Home Health
and Hospice, along with
RNs for Pioneer Memorial
Hospital, a part-time dieti-
cian, and a part time med-
ical assistant for Pioneer
Memorial Clinic.
-heard the next Gover-
nance Committee for Wil-
low Creek Valley Assisted
Living facility is December
12; the next Governing
Board meeting is planned
for Jan. 9, at noon. Two
apartments are available at
this time.
-learned a new vehicle
has been purchased for
Home Health.
-learned the district
ended up $84,763 in the
black for October, receiving
the following profit and
loss statement for Octo-
ber: $1,242,427 in gross
patient revenue; with a
$23,720 provision for bad
debts, $99,697 in contrac-
tual and other adjustments,
$165,790 in tax revenue and
$31,774 in other operating
revenue for $1,316,574 in
total operating revenue;
$1,294,163 in total op-
erating expenses, plus a
$62,352 in a non-operating
gain for an $84,763 gain for
the month and a $75,677
average monthly year-to-
date gain.
-received the following
report: Pioneer Memori-
al Hospital had 12 acute
(in-patient) admissions for
October, 13 admissions for
observation, five swing bed
(skilled) admissions, two
swing (non-skilled) ad-
missions, 650 total out-pa-
tients, 96 emergency room
encounters, 2,145 lab tests,
123 x-ray/ultrasound tests,
33 CT scans, seven MRI
scans, 21 EKG tests, two
questions at 541-676-5024.
Thursday, November
28 at 1 p.m., Free Commu-
nity Thanksgiving Dinner
at Gateway Café for those
who do not have plans
for Thanksgiving. To con-
tribute to the meal contact
MelbaJo at 541-945-9471.
December 6, 8:30 a.m.
to 12 p.m., First Friday
Friends of Jesus at All Saints
Parish Hall. This program is
for children from the ages
of 4-12 and includes Bible
stories, crafts and a free
lunch. Contact the church
office at 541-676-9970 for
more information.
T h u r s d a y, D e c e m -
ber 12 at 6 p.m., Heppner
Chamber ’s Community
Christmas Event. The Re-
wards card program will be
in effect from November 18
to December 12. Rewards
cards for the amount of
purchase will be earned at
participating merchants.
The event will be held in
the Gilliam and Bisbee
Building and will include
pictures with Santa and
Mrs. Claus, complimentary
cookies and beverage, pen-
ny board and raffle items,
along with drawings for
the winners of the Rewards
cards prizes.
Friday, December 13
from 4-8 p.m., Holiday
Night Market at Gilliam
Bisbee Building, organized
by Heppner Day Care. It
will include vendors, chil-
dren’s activities and live
entertainment.
Friday, December 13
from 6-8:30 p.m., Hep-
pner’s Winter Fest in down-
town Heppner, organized
by the Heppner Outreach
Committee. Schedule: 6
p.m. light parade and dis-
play; 6:45-7:30 p.m., pho-
tos with Holiday Friends at
Sage Clothing Gathering
Area; 7:30 p.m., Storytime
with Mrs. Claus at the City
Hall Conference Room and
8 p.m., snowball drop at the
shamrock on Main Street
Sunday, December 15
at 4 p.m., Christmas Mu-
sic Fest at Hope Lutheran
Church. All community
members are invited and
if you would like to share
your musical talents, con-
tact the Hopeful Saints
office at 541-676-9970.
Sunday, December 22
from 4-6 p.m., Christmas
Caroling event. Hopeful
Saints will be meeting at
the All Saints Episcopal
Church and will be caroling
at the hospital, the Senior
Center and Willow Creek
Terrace. Anyone is wel-
come to join then. Arrive by
4 p.m. to participate.
lower endoscopy proce-
dures, 44 respiratory ther-
apy procedures.
-received the following
clinic reports for October:
Pioneer Memorial Clinic
had 432 patient visits, 10
new patients, 71 seen by a
nurse and eight no-shows;
Irrigon medical Clinic had
364 patient visits, 26 new
patients, 206 seen by a
nurse and 50 no-shows;
Ione Community Clinic had
82 patient visits, 27 seen by
a nurse and three no-shows.
-received the follow-
ing ambulance report for
October: Heppner had 47
page-outs with 34 trans-
ports for $52,581 in reve-
nue; Boardman Ambulance
had 42 page-outs with 16
transports for $29,862 in
revenue; Irrigon Ambu-
lance had 44 page outs with
14 transports for $23,400 in
revenue; Ione Ambulance
had three page-outs with
one transport for $1,582
in revenue; there were five
flights.
-Home Health had 135
patient visits, Hospice had
two admissions with four
deaths.
-Pharmacy had 3,637
drug doses for $90,771 in
revenue.
-agreed to dismiss with
the December meeting un-
less pressing business de-
velops. The next meeting
will be held on January
27 at the Ione Community
Church.
Tips and information on
buying your home
Tip #3
What to look for, and questions to
ask when visiting a home
The process of buying a house can be
complicated and sometimes
frustrating. Finding a good Realtor who
can help you through the process will
make the home buying process much
easier.
Following are some common steps and
tips on finding and buying your new
home.
What to ask when looking
Tip #2 talked about finding homes and
scheduling appointments. You can read
all the real estate tips on my facebook
page. David Sykes Real Estate
Now we will talk about what to do once
you arrive at a home.
Telling someone what features to look for
in a home is like telling them what kind
of car to buy, or furniture to purchase.
Not going to happen! Everyone has dif-
ferent tastes and likes. That’s why homes
are all different - right? So what features
you like is up to you. But here are a few
basic questions to consider when
shopping for almost any home.
Very important, especially in our commu-
nity: Is it in the flood plain?
It’s relevant because a large portion of
our three communities are in the flood
plain. Being in the flood plain isn’t
necessarily a non-starter or deal killer, it
just means you’ll be required to buy flood
insurance if you are financing. Insurance
prices vary and can even depend on the
individual, but you will have extra costs
as part of your monthly mortgage
payment. Ask your real estate agent if
the property is in the flood plain, or you
can go to City Hall and look at the flood
plain maps. (If a house is located up on
the hill it’s
definitely not in the flood plain)
What about the septic system? In
Heppner that’s not a issue. But in Ione,
Lexington and the county at large, all
homes have septic systems and the
condition is very important. First ask if
the system is working okay and if it’s
pumped recently. Are there records? As
far as the condition of the system, you
won’t really know that until an inspection
is done. Many lenders will require a pump
and inspection prior to making the loan,
but we will cover that later on Making
Your Offer.
What about the well? Same thing. Ask for
well reports. These will show the depth,
production and other facts about the
well. Once again tests can be done prior
to purchase.
What kind of heating and cooling systems
and - “What’s it going to cost me?” Your
realtor will have what systems, and he
can usually get past electric and fuel bills
to document what your yearly costs will
be.
These are just a few of the basic
questions you can ask when visiting a
home. There are lots more and don’t be
afraid to ask. We will cover more
inspections and property questions when
we talk later about ‘Making Your Offer’.
That’s up next on our Tips and
information on buying your home
column.
You can find all my
Real Estate Tips on my facebook
page David Sykes Real Estate. Don’t
forget to “Like” my page when you
are there.
David Sykes Real Estate
David Sykes
Principal Broker
541-980-6674
188 W. Willow
Heppner, OR 97836
david@rapidserve.net