TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 8, 2023
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
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Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
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subscriptions.
Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher
Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor
Cindi Doherty..........................................................................................Advertising
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Obituaries
where he practiced
Michael Allen pner,
law with Kuhn, Spicer, and
Mills
Mills and started his family.
I t
is with
great
sadness
we share
that Mi-
chael
Allen
Mills
passed away on Jan. 26,
2023, at the age of 65 at his
home in Milwaukee, OR.
A graveside service will be
held at the Rockford Cem-
etery on Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. A
luncheon will immediately
follow at the Mirabeau Park
Hotel and Convention Cen-
ter, 1100 N Sullivan Rd.,
Spokane Valley, WA.
Mike will be remem-
bered for his keen sense
of humor, his razor-sharp
wit and, most importantly,
as a dedicated and loving
friend and father. He will
be greatly missed.
Mike was born in Spo-
kane, WA to parents Larry
and Betty (Jahns) Mills. At
the age of two, the family
moved to Odessa, WA, and
then when Mike was in
seventh grade the family
settled in Heppner. Mike
was always close with his
older sister Dianne. As
children the two enjoyed
poking fun at each other,
and as they grew older, they
continued to enjoy lovingly
poking fun at each other.
Later in life they would
find that they shared a love
of horticulture (which they
called their “farmer gene”)
and would have long talks
about cultivating flowers,
where Mike would tease
Dianne for not knowing the
scientific names of plants,
and Dianne would stub-
bornly refuse to learn them.
Mike thrived as a Hep-
pner Mustang and was ac-
tive in academics and ath-
letics. He became defensive
captain of the football team
his senior year. His love
of sports, and especially
football, would last his
entire life.
After high school Mike
attended Oregon State Uni-
versity (OSU) where he had
the rare privilege of devel-
oping lifelong friendships
with Larry Breshears, Rick
Hayes and Ron Monnier.
In their younger years, the
three men enjoyed count-
less hours of frustratingly
bad Beavers football, end-
less rounds of golf (which
they all admit that Mike was
superior at), and the “occa-
sional” beer. For almost 50
years the four remained best
of friends—there are not
words that can express the
value of a friendship such
as theirs.
After graduating from
OSU, Mike would go on
to get his law degree from
the University of Utah, and
then he returned to Hep-
Parenting, like being a fan
of Beavers football, can be
challenging, but there was
no role that Mike played in
his life that he excelled at
more than being a father.
His love for his two chil-
dren, Chloe and Chandler
Mills, was fierce and un-
conditional. Whether they
were visiting Silver Falls
Park, or enjoying episodes
of Dr. Who, Mike lived for
spending time with Chloe
and Chandler.
Mike dedicated his life
to his children, and he was
always there to lift them up
when needed. They in turn
loved him greatly.
Mike is survived by his
daughter Chloe Diane Mills
and son Chandler Moses
Mills; his doting mother
Betty (Jahns) Mills; and sis-
ter Dianne (Mills) Stickney.
Mike was proceeded
in death by his father Larry
Mills; maternal grandpar-
ents Harold and Gladys
Jahns; and fraternal grand-
parents Harold and Mary
Mills.
The family has request-
ed that remembrances be
made in the form of con-
tributions to the Heppner
Mustang football team,
c/o Heppner High School,
PO Box 67, Heppner, OR
97836. (Heppner High
School Football in the
memo.)
Sweeney Mortuary of
Heppner is in charge of ar-
rangements. You may sign
the online condolence book
at www.sweeneymortuary.
com.
Robert D.
“Bob” Irby
Robert D. “Bob” Irby
died on
Jan. 27,
2023,
at his
home in
Herm-
iston,
OR at
the age
of 78
years. No service will be
held at this time.
Bob was born on May
5, 1944, in Heppner to
parents Glenn and Gladys
(Lawson) Irby. He was
raised and attended schools
in Heppner, graduating
from Heppner High School
in the class of 1962. He then
attended business school
in Portland, OR for a time
before he enlisted in the
United States Navy. Bob
was stationed at the General
Westmoreland Headquar-
ters, United States Military
Assistance Command in
downtown Saigon, Viet-
nam. Later he served on the
USS Independence for the
remainder of his duty until
his honorable discharge.
Obituaries
He was united in mar-
riage to Claudia Duncan
on June 1, 1979, in Reno,
NV. Bob worked for the
City of Hermiston for 44
years, retiring as the finance
director.
He is survived by his
wife, Claudia Irby; children
Kyli Mendoza (Arturo) and
Corey Cartwright, both of
Hermiston; grandchildren
Brielle and Ariona Men-
doza; great-grandchildren
Aaniya, Issiah, Anessah,
Haigan, Junior and LaLia;
his sister, Mary Banks, of
Pendleton; and a brother,
Bill Irby, of Hermiston. His
buddy “Kit Kat” watched
over him and will surely
miss him.
Please share memories
of Bob with his family at
burnsmortuaryhermiston.
com. Burns Mortuary of
Hermiston is in charge of
arrangements.
Tom Martin
Tom Martin, a long
time
Lex-
ington
resi-
dent,
passed
away
on Fri-
day,
Feb. 3, 2023, surrounded by
family. He was 79 years old.
A celebration of life will be
planned for a future date.
Tom Martin was born
Nov. 5, 1943, in Pendleton
to Roy and Juanita Mar-
tin. He started school as a
Lexington Jackrabbit and
graduated from Ione High
School. After high school,
Tom played running back
for Columbia Basin Com-
munity College. He then
attended Oregon State Uni-
versity until entering the
Army to serve his country.
When Tom was young,
he managed a ranch in
Colorado. He spent most of
his life farming in Morrow
County. Later in life, Tom
lived in Morristown, AZ in
the winter months, roping
and playing golf. He also
rode saddle broncs, roped
calves and fished for steel-
head. Tom’s true passion
was team roping, which he
enjoyed into his 70s.
Tom is survived by his
wife, Shirley Martin; sons,
Steve Marlatt and Joedy
Marlatt (Tammy); daugh-
ters, Susan Warner (Scott),
Cathy Smith (Brett) and
Jennifer Jorgensen (Jar-
ed). Grandchildren include
Nicholas Warner, Katie
Warner, Rebecca Warner,
Alex Smith, Aaron Smith,
Danica Jorgensen, Mon-
tana Marlatt, as well as
great-grandchild Ashlynn
Marlatt. Tom loved his fam-
ily and talked about them all
the time.
Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to Wil-
low Creek Golf Course,
53726 OR-74, Heppner,
OR 97836.
Health district hires new ER provider
-Continued from PAGE ONE
also at the meeting to give
MCHD board members and
staff an update on the tax
situation in Morrow Coun-
ty. The health district is a
county-wide taxing district
and receives tax revenue
from property taxes in the
county.
Gorman reported that
the health district’s tax-
able value was $3.7 billion
taxable value—the same
as the county since it is a
county-wide district. The
county levied $54 million
in total certified property
taxes county-wide and has
already collected about 96
percent of that, Gorman
said. The health district
received $2.2 million in
regular levy with a local
option of $1.2 million.
“It’s about the same as
last year. About the same
as the last several years,
but we just don’t have the
delinquencies that we used
to have,” said Gorman. “I
think it just goes to show
that the economy in the re-
gion is good and so people
have the money to pay their
tax obligations.”
Every dollar the county
receives in taxes is divided
among the taxing districts,
Gorman said, and the health
district basically gets 6.4
cents for every dollar. The
county’s taxable value was
about $800 million over
what it was last year, mostly
due to some expiring en-
terprise zone exemptions,
as well as an increase in
assessed values for all other
properties.
Total county market
value was $9.2 billion, an
increase of over a billion
dollars, mostly due to Am-
azon’s newest site at Gar
Swanson.
“You’re going to hear
me say ‘Amazon’ a lot,”
he said, though he added
that there is also a lot of
residential and commercial
development in the coun-
ty. “We’re on the track to
hit $10 billion here pretty
soon.”
Looking to the future,
Gorman said he expects
to see values continue to
increase from new devel-
opment and expiring ex-
emptions. He also said the
number of partition and
subdivision plats has not
decreased.
“We have a pretty di-
verse economy,” he said,
listing farming, Amazon
and forestry, to name a few.
“I think we’re going to be
able to hold our own even
if the whole world economy
might turn down. People
still need to eat; they’re
still going to need two by
fours.”
In her report, Roberts
told the board that em-
ployee turnover rate is four
percent, which is down
slightly. The report showed
the vacancy rate up slightly
at 8.5 percent, or 14 posi-
tions, which Roberts said
was because of some new
positions created. Roberts
added that some of the po-
JR Lieuallen
sitions had ben filled since
the report was created.
She also reported that
the average waiting time
for appointments is 10 days
in Heppner, six at Ione
Community Clinic and sev-
en days at Irrigon Medi-
cal Clinic. Total visits at
MCHD are holding steady,
Roberts said, and even in-
creasing slightly. Visits at
Pioneer Memorial Clin-
ic were 344 the previous
month, with 105 in Ione,
359 in Irrigon and 149 at
Boardman Immediate Care.
MCHD chief financial
officer J. R. Lieuallen told
the board the district had a
down month, losing money
in December. Operating
revenue for the month was
$1,527,364 and operating
expenses were $1,988,487,
for a loss of 461,123 in
operations.
Lieuallen said there
were several contributing
factors and pointed out that
one of those is salary and
wages, where the district is
over budget.
“There are a few things
feeding into that,” he said.
One was the creation of
Boardman Immediate Care,
which was not budgeted
for at the beginning of the
year and contained a lot
of up-front costs but also
is bringing in revenue, he
said, and another was the
new staffing model in the
ER.
For the month of De-
cember, the health district
received revenue of $12,629
for skilled swing bed care,
$41,126 for patient obser-
vation, $46,778 non-skilled
swing bed care, $73,769
for hospital encounters.
Ambulance revenue from
all sources was $229,347,
and pharmacy revenue was
$141,391. Total patient
accounts receivable for the
year as of December were
$2,638,770, and total assets
were $13,990,705.
In other business, the
MCHD board:
-Appointed Sara Bay-
less to the EMS (Emer-
gency Medical Services)
Advisory Committee as the
EMT representative from
Boardman;
-Approved a $38,883
Microsoft Licensing Agree-
ment with Dynamic Com-
puter Consulting, Inc. out
of Pendleton. The agree-
ment locked in the rate for
products the health district
already uses;
-Approved a contract
for a Novarad interface
for $7,059 initial fee plus
$220 per month license
subscription. Roberts said
it is an interface between
the district’s past system
and an electronic health
record system the district
will be upgrading to in
May. “Which is helpful,
because it reduces errors
and increases efficiencies,”
said Roberts.
-Approved a peer re-
view contract with Illinois
Critical Access Hospital
Network (ICAHN). Roberts
told the board that Oregon,
along with other states,
allows health providers to
receive a peer review to
help improve services. In a
peer review, someone from
the same specialty, usually a
physician, can review cases
and provide feedback on it.
“They want us to learn from
instances of care good, bad
or otherwise,” said Roberts.
She told the board the
health district already has a
contract with an Oregon or-
ganization but wants to add
a contract with ICAHN be-
cause they apparently have
better turnaround times.
Other Oregon facilities use
them, and they appear to
be compliant with all the
applicable privacy laws.
Mahoney added that
the Oregon group is smaller
and has a limited number
of resources, so their turn-
around time has been slow
and unreliable compared to
what they hope ICAHN’s
will be.
Reviews would be
initiated by the CEO but
could come from a variety
of sources ranging from
complaints to random case
reviews, Roberts said. The
fee for a routine review is
$250 per record, while an
expedited review is $300
per record.
Roberts said it may re-
place the current organiza-
tion, but there was nothing
in either contract to prevent
them using both while they
determine if ICAHN is a
good fit.
“I think if this has bet-
ter turnaround times, we
would use it,” she said.
After the regular meet-
ing, the board went into
executive session. The stat-
ed purpose of the session
included consideration of
information or records that
are exempt from public
inspection
pertaining to ongoing
or anticipated litigation or
to trade secrets and which
are exempt from disclosure.
The next meeting of
the Morrow County Health
District board will be Mon-
day, Feb. 27, at 6:30 p.m.
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