SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Local fire departments get
practice with Jaws of Life
The three local fire departments of Heppner, Lexington and Ione got some training and prac-
tice last week using the rescue tool Jaws of Life. The tool is used to cut away parts of vehicles
for quicker rescue of crash victims. The firemen first cut the stanchions and then completely
remove the top of a practice car. Not only do the firemen get practice but they also are recerti-
fied on using the tool, says Fire Chief Steve Rhea. In addition to training on a car with the tool
the firemen also receive two 2-hour classes on its use. Martin Towing of Lexington provided
three vehicles for the firemen to practice on. History of the jaws tool goes back to 1961 when
George Hurst invented the Hurst Rescue Tool after he viewed a stock car race accident in which
it took workers over an hour to remove an injured driver from his car. The tool was a great
improvement over saws and crow bars also used in rescue. -Photo by David Sykes.
Governor Kate Brown extends
face coverings requirement
statewide
Face covering requirements apply to indoor public
spaces, take effect on Wednesday, July 1
Governor Kate Brown
announced that Oregonians
statewide will be required
to wear face coverings in
indoor public spaces, be-
ginning Wednesday, July
1. The guidance applies to
businesses and members of
the public visiting indoor
public spaces. Face cov-
ering requirements were
already mandated in eight
counties.
“From the beginning
of the reopening process,
I have said that reopen-
ing comes with the risk
of seeing an increase in
COVID-19 cases beyond
our health systems’ capac-
ity to test, trace and iso-
late them,” said Governor
Kate Brown. “Over the
last month, we have seen
the disease spread at an
alarming rate in both urban
and rural counties. The
upcoming July 4 th holiday
weekend is a critical point
for Oregon in this pandem-
ic, and we can all make a
difference.
“Modeling from the
Oregon Health Authori-
ty shows that if we don’t
take further action to re-
duce the spread of the dis-
ease, our hospitals could
be overwhelmed by new
COVID-19 cases and hos-
pitalizations within weeks.”
“The choices every
single one of us make in
the coming days matter.
Face coverings that cover
your nose and mouth play
a critical role in reducing
the spread of this disease
because droplets from our
breath can carry the virus
to others without us real-
izing it. If we all wear face
coverings, practice six feet
of physical distancing in
public, wash our hands reg-
ularly, and stay home when
we are sick, then we can
avoid the worst-case sce-
narios that are now playing
out in other states.”
“I do not want to have
to close down businesses
again like other states are
now doing. If you want
your local shops and restau-
rants to stay open, then
wear a face covering when
out in public.”
“Please keep your
Fourth of July celebrations
small and local. We saw a
lot of new COVD-19 cases
following the Memorial
Day holiday. Another spike
in cases after the upcoming
holiday weekend could
put Oregon in a dangerous
position.”
“Oregonians have all
made incredible sacrifices
over the last several months
that have saved thousands
of lives. The actions we
take now can protect our
friends, neighbors, loved
ones, and fellow Orego-
nians from this disease, and
prevent the need for another
statewide shutdown. We are
truly all in this together.”
Following is what Dr.
Paul Cieslak, an infectious
disease specialist with the
Oregon Health Authority
(OHA), said on a phone
conference June 5 between
the Association of Oregon
Counties and the OHA
about the effectiveness of
masks.
“The argument for
masks is largely made on
theoretical grounds. We
know the virus lives in the
nose and throat and is car-
ried in respiratory droplets
so it’s reasonable to assume
that if you put something on
that will prevent the expul-
sion and dispersion of respi-
ratory droplets you might
be able to prevent a certain
number of people from be-
ing exposed to it. We know
that some people carry the
virus without having symp-
toms and people who carry
the virus carry the disease
for a day or two before
they get symptoms so that
would be the rationale for
putting masks on people
who have no symptoms to
prevent the dispersion of
droplets. It’s a theoretical
thing; there isn’t a lot of
good data showing that if
everybody wears a mask,
we will reduce the incidents
of disease. You know you
will hear people argue they
wore them in Singapore
and Singapore controlled
COVID-19. Which is not
a great argument because
there were a lot of other
things Singapore was doing
along with the masks.
“It’s basically theoret-
ical on what can stop the
disbursement of droplets.
I would tend to caution
people not to put too much
confidence in the mask.” A
significant amount of virus
can be spread by touching,
by hand to hand contact.
People touching their faces
where there is virus then
they shake hands and the
virus gets passed.
“Theoretical reasons
for masks, and CDC (Cen-
ter of Disease Control)
is requiring it and this is
causing a certain amount
of confusion. WHO (World
Health Organization) does
not require it; they looked at
the data and said there is not
a lot of empirical evidence
as to the effectiveness. CDC
looks at the theoretical
data and says well maybe
they could work so we are
following CDC recommen-
dation.
Kate Brown’s press
release states that Oregon
Occupational Safety and
Health (OSHA) will take
the lead, along with other
state and local agencies, in
enforcing face covering re-
quirements for all covered
Oregon businesses.
According to Morrow
County District Attorney,
Justin Nelson, “The Mor-
row County philosophy
has been to educate people
when a violation occurs,
and if it continues to occur
then it will be forwarded to
the State agencies- OSH,
OSHA, etc., and they can
do enforcement if they so
choose. As the Morrow
County District Attorney,
I have not received any
requests or citations for
prosecution of individuals
violating a Governor or-
der.”
Sheriff Matlack told the
Gazette he will not enforce
the use of masks in public.
In an article published in
the Heppner Gazette-Times
in May regarding business-
es being forced to close,
Sheriff Matlack stated his
plan for enforcement was
to ‘warn and educate.’
Editor ’s Note: The
quote from the May 13 is-
sue regarding closing busi-
nesses by Sheriff Matlack
said, “If some businesses
are not following directives
as suggested or ordered
by the Governor’s Office,
the Sheriff ’s Office may
contact, remind or educate
businesses etc., but our role
is not to arrest or cite busi-
nesses.” Early on in this
process, it was determined
that if enforcement action
was necessary, the best plan
was to have the licensing
agencies that regulate the
businesses be the ones re-
sponsible for dealing with
the owners/managers of the
businesses. The licensing
agency would determine if
their business license would
be subject to suspension
or other enforcement type
action would be necessary.
Health District concerned
about decrease in clinic visits
The Morrow County
Health District Board ex-
pressed concern over the
decrease in visits at Pioneer
Memorial Clinic in Hep-
pner at their Monday night
meeting in Irrigon. Chief
Financial Officer Nichole
Mahoney estimated that
the Heppner clinic is down
around 20 percent over
the last 10 years, while the
Irrigon Clinic is around 30
percent up over the same
period.
“I know doctor vis-
its are down,” said board
member Leann Rea, “but
is there any way to calcu-
late how much is due to
COVID?” Mahoney said at
one point that the Heppner
Clinic revenues were as
much as 40 percent down.
Rea suggested that
some people may have
been afraid to come to the
clinic or felt they were
discouraged from making
appointments because of
the COVID scare. Mahoney
also pointed out that “a lot
of provider turnover” may
have contributed to the
downturn.
In light of that infor-
mation, the board opted
to postpone plans for the
Heppner Clinic rebuild and
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
renovation and review the
project again in the 20-21
budget year. The board also
put off a presentation of
the proposed construction
by the architect until later,
considering the $12 thou-
sand payment required to
the firm.
The board commu-
nicated via Zoom with
George Dunkel, consulting
administrator at the Spe-
cial Districts Association
of Oregon, concerning the
district’s search for a new
administrator. Current CEO
Bob Houser had previously
announced his retirement.
Dunkel said that his organi-
zation is ready to begin the
search as early as tomorrow
(Wednesday, July 1) with
the position open for six
weeks. Dunkel said that
his agency plans a meeting
with the board to present a
report on the quantity and
quality of applicants. He
said the first step was to
advertise the opening on the
MCHD website.
The position will pay
$155,000 to $195,000 per
year, commensurate with
experience, plus medical,
dental and vision insurance
with additional insurance
policies, sick leave, paid
holidays and benefits.
In other business, the
board approved changes
in the 2020-21 budget as
follows:
To t a l r e s o u r c e s -
$18,535,756: Hospital
-$9,138,197; Home Health
& Hospice -$680,578;
Boardman Ambulance
-$533,585; Irrigon Ambu-
lance -$328,425; Ione am-
bulance -$7,475; Heppner
Clinic -$1,693,057; Irrigon
Clinic -$1,988,063; Ione
Clinic -$267,422; Other
Revenue-$301,027; Dona-
tions & Grants-$353,000;
Interest income-$56,000;
Community Service Fees-
$173,100; Electronic
Health Record Reimburse-
ments-$8,500; 340B Re-
tail Pharmacy Net Reve-
nue-$281,811; Operating,
Capital, Long & Short
Term Loans-$500,000;
Total Resources Except
Taxes-$16,310,240; Prop-
erty Taxes (including Local
Option Levy if applica-
ble)-$2,225,516.
Total expenditures
-Hospital-$10,469,115;
Home Health & Hos-
pice-$962,192; Boardman
Ambulance-$438,803; Irri-
gon Ambulance-$363,505;
Ione Ambulance & Lex-
ington EMS-$20,871; Hep-
pner Clinic-$1,878,326;
Irrigon Clinic-$1,633,277;
Ione Community Clin-
ic-$216,620; Community
Benefit Grants-$50,000;
Revenue Deductions & Bad
Debt-$1,065,123; Capi-
tal Purchases-$1,152,922;
Capital Lease Principal Re-
duction-$45,014; Long &
Short Term Debt Principal
Reduction-$361,702; Total
Expenditures-$18,657,470;
Net Increase/Decrease in
Cash ($121,714); Grant
Funds already on hand for
projects in this budget that
offset the decrease in cash-
$308,826.
Capital purchases
include: a replacement
ambulance for $150,000
paid by a grant; Stryker
Load System for Ambu-
lance-$23,000-grant; Pow-
erPro XT Gurney for am-
bulance-$17,300-grant;
Xray Machine replace-
ment-$100,000 with grants/
board designated on hand;
Xray digital reader system-
$55,000-grant; Retaining
Wall at Heppner Clinic
parking area-$16,732-cash
on hand; Expansion Tank
for Boiler Room-$9,141-
cash on hand; Lab Micro-
scope-$6,601-cash on hand;
Dishwasher-$16,322-cash
on hand; Irrigon Am-
bulance Hall Construc-
tion-$258,826-grants re-
ceived prior year; Heppner
Clinic Building/Hospital
Modernization/Architect/
Planning Fees-$500,000-in-
terim loan; total capital pur-
chases-$1,152,922.
The board adopted the
budget, made appropria-
tions of $18,657,470 and
imposed taxes of $.6050
per $1,000 assessed value
for operations and $.3900
per $1,000 assessed value
for local option tax for op-
erations.
Houser reported that
Nurse Practitioner Betty
Hamill’s last day at MCHD
was May 29. She did not
renew her employment with
MCHD so that she could
move to the Portland area
to be closer to family. Since
the district is not recruiting
for that position, Danielle
Mateleska, Physician’s As-
sistant, has moved into that
office which frees up her
office for Dr. Betsy Ander-
son, who has signed a year
contract with the district,
and others. Physician’s As-
sistant Amanda Fabian will
go to the Ione Community
Clinic on Tuesdays and split
time with PA Mateleska at
the Boardman Health De-
partment.
Mahoney released
the following profit and
loss statement for the
month: Gross patient rev-
enue-$1,028,782; provi-
sion for bad debts-$7,794;
contractual and other de-
ductions-$136,528; tax rev-
enue-$181,603; other op-
erating revenue-$210,746;
total operating reve-
nue-$1,549,864; total oper-
ating expenses-$1,255,295,
non-operating gain-
$47,477; for a $342,047
gain for the month, and an
average monthly year-to-
date gain of $48,979.
Data for May include
the following:
-Pioneer Memorial
Hospital had seven acute
admissions, eight admis-
sions for observation, one
swing bed admission, 498
total out-patients, 58 emer-
gency room encounters,
1,580 lab tests, 97 x-ray/ul-
trasound tests, 40 CT scans,
one MRI scan, 24 EKG
tests, five lower endoscopy
procedures and 37 respira-
tory therapy procedures.
-Pioneer Memorial
Clinic had 316 patient vis-
its, one new patient, 18
seen by a nurse and six no-
shows; Irrigon Clinic had
301 patient visits, 29 new
patients, 94 seen by a nurse
and 32 no-shows; and Ione
Clinic had 53 patient visits,
one new patient, 10 seen by
a nurse and zero no-shows.
-Home Health had 179
visits in May; Hospice had
one admission; Pharmacy
had 3,026 drug doses for
$115,478.
-Heppner Ambulance
had 24 page-outs with 15
transports for $21,838 in
revenue; Boardman Ambu-
lance had 35 page-outs with
18 transports for $33,540
in revenue; Irrigon Ambu-
lance had 38 page-outs with
17 transports for $25,929 in
revenue; Ione Ambulance
had two page-outs with no
transports; there were six
life flights.
At the meeting, Rea
announced her resignation
from the board as she is
moving out of the district.
The board also held an ex-
ecutive session involving
submission of confidential
information for board re-
view.
The next meeting will
be held July 27 at the Ione
Community Church.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Heppner Lions Club
Fireworks Stand
Opening July 1st 1-5pm
Heppner Market Fresh Parking Lot