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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2022)
TEN- Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 27, 2022 MCHD hears public comment Ione Community 4-H Club takes field trip regarding termination The Morrow County Health District Board, at their April 25 meeting at the Port of Morrow offices in Boardman, heard public comment via telecom, spe- cifically concerning the ter- mination of Victoria Walz, who had subsequently ini- tiated a Facebook campaign against the district. Walz allegedly used the district’s computer during work time for personal reasons. She listed on Facebook the dis- trict employees who had left the district or had been terminated by the district. At the meeting, CEO Emily Roberts outlined a plan to test wells in the dis- trict for contaminants, such as nitrates, coliform bacte- ria, arsenic and lead. Mor- row County Commissioner Jim Doherty was on hand in support of a Morrow Coun- ty Health District/Morrow County Health Department partnership to facilitate the collection of samples and testing of wells. “I want to remove the cost, time bar- rier and work with Public Health,” said Roberts. “I feel it is critical.” It was noted that water filters can help prevent contaminants and people can also buy filtered water for drinking and cooking uses. Roberts suggested providing water testing kits where people could pick up the kits for testing their wells once a week, perhaps picking up the kits on Sunday and re- turning the water samples for testing on Mondays, noting that both Oregon State University and the University of Oregon have testing programs. “I would like this to be an ongoing project,” she said. Roberts advised the board that they did not need to take action on the plan. Also at the meeting, the board approved three health provider contracts with Edward Piepmeier, M.D. as locum tenens, Jillian Webb, nurse practitioner, and Christine Seals, M.D., providing “They can meet our standards,” said Rob- erts. The district is still re- cruiting for a family prac- tice physician, an MD or a DO (doctor of osteopathy), and a behavioral health con- sultant (a licensed clinical social worker or a psychol- ogist) for Pioneer Memorial Clinic and a family practice physician, an MD or DO, for the Irrigon Medical Clinic. At the meeting, Chief Financial Officer Nicole Mahoney presented a pro- posed budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 with “net patient revenues up 29 percent or $3.8 million over current year-end projected vol- umes, which are historically low due to the pandemic and a provider shortage resulting in reduced utili- zation. The 2022 budget includes a 4.5 percent cost of living increase.” The proposed budget included no new capital loans, but added four EMS positions in Boardman, six EMS positions in Irrigon and one medical staff-executive coordinator.” “The FY 2022-23 bud- get includes a 4.5 percent cost of living increase for non-contracted and union employees, annual levity step increases, market ad- justments for pay scales, a 15-percent estimated increase to the district’s employee health insurance contribution cap begin- ning 1/1/2023, and the ad- dition of 11 FTEs (full time employees) over last year’s budget due to staffing changes. $20,385. Mahoney said, “Other revenue amounts did not fluctuate a great deal except for the addition of $200,000 in COVID Provider Relief Funding for the clinics and a federal grant request that has been submitted for a new CT scanner for $585,000 that could be awarded in FY 2023.” “The forecasted amount of $3,078,680 is a 20-per- cent increase over the cur- rent year revenue due to increased property values in residential, commercial and industrial development in primarily the north end of the county,” she said. “There are no new capital equipment leases or loans budgeted for this year.” Also at the meeting, the board learned the district is to receive $657,983 from the Amazon Gift Payment distribution. The 2022-23 budget includes the following proposed resources: Pi- oneer Memorial Hospi- tal-$11,678,067, compared to $10,168,965 adopted for 2021-22; Home Health & Hospice-$1,217,749 vs. $1,148,484 adopt- ed for 2021; Boardman Ambulance-$654,401 vs. $567,954; Irrigon Ambulance-$449,615 vs $348,603; Ione Am- bulance-$3,676-vs $4,4201; Heppner Clinic $1,734,724 vs $2,061,75; Irrigon Clinic-$2,061,756 vs $2071,900; Ione Clin- ic-$278,624 vs $274,882; Other Revenue -$467,343 vs. $267,343;; Donations and Grants-$909,000 vs $274,00; Interest In- come-$45,000 vs. $60,000; Community Service Fees- $311,900 vs. $293,100; Electronic Health Record Reimbursements-$0 vs. $0; 340B Retail Pharmacy Net Revenue-$260,000 vs $260,000; Operating, Cap- ital, Long & Short Term Loans-$0 vs. $67,500; Total Resources Except Taxes-$20,071,855 vs. $ 1 8 , 3 3 9 , 2 0 8 ; P r o p e r- ty Taxes (including Lo- cal Option Taxes if ap- plicable)-$3,078,680 vs. $2,372,518; Total Re- sources-$23,150,535 vs. $20711,726. 2022-23 proposed ex- penditures: Pioneer Memo- rial Hospital-$12,068,033 vs. $11,975,707 for last year; Home Health & Hospice-$1,392,900 vs. $1,230,084; Boardman Ambulance-$863,687 vs. $552,838; Irrigon Am- bulance-$863,769 vs. $404,972; Ione Ambu- lance & Lexington EMS- $20,385 vs. $21,$21,512; Heppner Pioneer Memo- rial Clinic-$2,467,243 vs. $2,075,910; Irrigon Clinic-$2,008,841 vs. $1,697,013; Ione Com- munity Clinic-$258,069 vs. $239,389; Community Benefit Grants-$50,000 vs. $50,000; Revenue De- ductions and Bad Debt- $1,275,420 vs. $1,415,174; Capital purchas- es-$1,343,640 vs. $590,970; Capital Lease Principal Reduction-0; Long & Short Term Debt Princi- pal Reduction-$316,495 v. $343,713; Total Ex- penditures-$22,928,483 vs. $20,597,282; Net de- crease in cash-$222,052 vs. $114,444. The board also received the following unaudited fi- nancial statement for March from CFO Mahoney: $1,209,576 in gross patient revenue, less $253,319 in revenue deductions, plus $218,296 in tax revenue and $14,844 in other operating revenue for $1,696,035 in total operating revenue, less $1,557,545 in total operat- ing expenses for a $138,490 gain from operations and $48,035 in a non-operating gain for a $186,525 gain for the month. In other business, the board: -approved a 20-year loan at 4.15 percent for refi- nancing the district’s USDA loan. “I haven’t found any rates more favorable,” not- ed Mahoney. -approved the follow- ing equipment purchases: a portable x-ray machine pur- chased with COVID funds, a hospital water softener, a hospital bathtub-a Pioneer Memorial Foundation Do- nation, and a pulmonary function test machine, pur- chased with COVID funds for additional testing for people with COVID. -approved the following capital purchases from July 1, 2022 to June 30 2023: re- placement of administrative car for staff-$30,000 paid with cash from operations; hospital flooring-$28,000 cash from operations; hos- pital interior paint-$10,000 cash from operations; hos- pital water softener sys- tem-$65,000 cash from operations; Pioneer Me- morial Clinic back entrance project-$35,000 COVID funds; 2 Zoll Defibrillators for crash carts-$21,930 do- nation; freezer for QC ma- terials-$6,088; Irrigon Am- bulance Hall site prep and paving-$400,000 in grants received in prior years; door security systems at all lo- cations-$125,335 in grants received in prior years; two computer switch- es-$10,677 in cash from operations; Omnicell Soft- ware interfaces-$26,610 in cash from operations and a CT scanner with injec- tor-$585,000 federal grant, if awarded; total capital purchases-$1,343,640, with $170,287 to be paid with cash on hand, $525,335 to be paid by prior grants/do- nated funds; and $648,018 to be paid with the current year’s grants and donations. -received the follow- ing statistics for March: Pioneer Memorial Hospital had six admissions, two hospital respite admissions, five swing bed admissions, six admissions for obser- vation, two hospital respite admissions, 662 outpatient admissions with emergen- cy room, 100 emergency room encounters, 1,752 lab tests, 98 x-ray/ultrasound tests, 37 CT scans, five MRI scans, 31 EKG tests and 13 respiratory therapy sessions; Home Health had 153 patient visits; Hospice had two admissions and one discharge, with no deaths; Pharmacy had 2,331 drug doses for $93,1218 in drug revenue. -received the following report on provider visits: the Heppner Clinic had 343 provider visits, the Irrigon Clinic-406, and the Ione Clinic, 92. -received the following ambulance reports for the month: Heppner Ambu- lance had 18 transports for $36,830 in revenue; Boardman Ambulance had 22 transports for $48,469 in revenue; Irrigon Am- bulance had 15 transports for $28,352 in revenue; Ione Ambulance had no transports. Print & Mailing Services *Design *Print Sykes Publishing *Mail 541-676-9228 Above pictured (L-R): Miley Strzelewicz, Phegley Padberg, Novalee Campbell, Liam Heide- man, Corey Rice, Khira Kreitzer, Kole Strzelewicz, Cadance Kreitzer and Madelyn Cambell. Dr. Bob and Jessie Peters are in background. Below: Members of Follett Meat Co. met with members of the Ione Community 4-H Club this past week as part of the clubs monthly meeting. Nine members of the Ione Community 4-H Club participated in their month- ly meeting with a field trip. The trip included a tour of Follett Meat Co., where owner Justin Follett walked students through the pro- cessing of animals. Many of the students in the club show market animals and this provided some insight into creating a quality prod- uct for a consumer. Part of their experience was getting to watch half a beef being cut up. “It was a really neat experience,” said member Khira Krietzer, an eighth grader in Ione. “It will help me decide how to feed my show animals.” The second part of the field trip was to Frontier Genetics with Bob and Jessie Peter. Club mem- bers were able to watch the artificial insemination of a mare and get a lesson on Oregon State Univer- sity Extension, Morrow County will be conducting interviews for a 4-H Pro- gram Coordinator/Outreach Program Coordinator on Friday, April 29, 2022. The community is invited to view community presenta- tions by each of the three candidates. The presenta- tion for candidate A will be available from 3 to 3:30 p.m., candidate B from 3:45 to 4:15 p.m. and candidate C from 4:30 to 5 p.m. The public viewing for the presentations will be done through zoom. Community members can log onto the zoom link posted below. Community participants will be asked for feedback through a link shared at the time of the presentations. For those who are unable to view genetics. At this stop, club member, Miley Strzelewicz also gave a presentation on theriogenology; the study of animal reproduction. Ione Community 4-H is a club in Morrow Coun- ty that was established in 2011. The current club lead- er is Dawn Eynetich and the club participates in many kinds of livestock, primar- ily, but also includes static opportunities as well. Public invited to view 4-H candidate presentations presentations during the scheduled times, but would like to, please contact Julie Baker at julie.baker@ore- gonstate.edu for a link to recorded versions. Please email Julie Bak- er also for the link to the Zoom presentations. WWW.HEPPNER.NET Submit News, Advertising & Announcements Letters To The Editor Send Us Photos Start A New Subscription
