EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 5, 2023
district approves online payments
Messages of Easter hope from local pastors continued... Health
Continued from PAGE ONE
Peace Be with You
Continued from PAGE SEVEN
Crucifixion without the
loved ones watching His
journey. But I am sure Eas-
ter of 2023 will be a source
of inspiration and blessing
to each of us, and we are
going to meet and witness
the Risen Lord once again
as One who assures and
shares peace and joy with
us all.
Easter reminds us that
peace is available to us at
any time and in even the
most difficult of circum-
stances because of Christ
and the sacrifices He made
for each of us. Our Chris-
tian hope cannot be quar-
antined. We need to shout
“Alleluia, God is with us!”
because Jesus declared,
before His death, what was
going to take place after His
death: “In this world, you
will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the
world” (John 16:33).
In the Acts of the Apos-
tles (10:34a, 37-43), we
see the continued work of
Christ in His Church after
His resurrection. This was
made possible as a result
of the apostles. Peter’s ad-
dress to Cornelius and his
household was preceded
by the baptism of Cornelius
and his entire household,
a witnessing made possi-
ble by the resurrection of
Jesus. Peter reminds them
that “God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy
Spirit and with power; how
he went about doing good
and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for
God was with him. We are
witnesses to all that he did
both in Judea and in Jeru-
salem….” (Acts 10:38-39).
We are all real witnesses of
Living Christ in our person-
al lives.
The letter of Paul to the
Colossians (3:1-4) reminds
us: “Brothers and sisters: if
then you were raised with
Christ, seek what is above”
(3:1). We are really witness-
es to God’s infinite love.
We all sought Christ above
everything else, especially
during the pandemic, and
we are all still holding
on because to His infinite
love. Post-resurrection, the
risen Lord always greeted
His disciples with “Peace
be with you” (John 20:19).
He also mentions, “Peace
is what I leave with you;
it is my own peace that I
give you. I do not give it as
the world does. Do not be
worried and upset; do not
be afraid” (John 14:27).
This Easter season re-
minds us all to come a little
closer to the Lord, who
Quarterly
chamber
meeting April
13
The next lunch meeting
of the Heppner Chamber of
Commerce will take place
Thursday, April 13, from
noon to 1:30 p.m. at the
Gilliam and Bisbee Event
Center.
Kim Cutsforth of the
Howard and Beth Bryant
Foundation and Brad Attig
of Reinventing Rural are
sponsoring the event and
will present on the Willow
Street Arts and Business
Innovation Center.
Pre-registration is re-
quired. RVSP for the quar-
terly luncheon by Tuesday,
April 11, at heppnercham-
ber@gmail.com or 541-
676-5536. Tacos Home-
town will provide a lunch
of chicken or beef burritos
with chips and salsa at a
cost of $15 per person.
Any business that
would like to present a new
service or project at the next
chamber luncheon is invit-
ed to contact the chamber
for sponsorship information
at heppnerchamber@gmail.
com or 541-676-5536 or
visit www.heppnercham-
ber.com.
cares for us, who continues
to protect us from threaten-
ing events of the world. In-
stead of looking for comfort
and pleasures from worldly
things, the Lord invites
everyone to come closer to
Him and trust Him more. I
think that is the real mes-
sage of Easter: “Be brave, I
have conquered the world.”
If we remain in Him
and His words remain in
us, surely we can conquer
with our faith anything and
everything that challenges
us every day. The gift of
peace is available to us be-
cause Christ is the prince of
peace, the light that dispels
darkness and ushers lasting
peace and joy.
Father Thankachan
Joseph
St. Patrick’s and St.
William’s Catholic churches
Shortcuts
Shortcuts. We all look
for and take them at every
opportunity. But is it always
the best way to go? When
using a cake mix instead of
starting from scratch, it’s a
real time saver. When read-
ing a book for deep com-
prehension, however, the
only way to read is line by
line, sentence by sentence
by sentence, paragraph by
paragraph—no shortcuts!
This was according to my
world literature professor,
and I fear she was correct.
Many people take a
shortcut from the celebra-
tions of Christmas to the
hallelujahs of Easter, spend-
ing no time to reflect on
their own shortcomings and
the mercy of God in Christ.
Even Jesus, shortly after
his baptism, was tempted
by Satan to take a shortcut
to fulfill God’s calling for
his life. “Throw yourself
down off the pinnacle of the
temple,” he suggests. “That
way, when people see the
angels come to the rescue
you will have an instant
following.” (My very loose
translation).
People are attracted
by sensationalism, but that
wasn’t the kind of followers
Jesus wanted. He chose
instead the long, slow path
of making disciples by
proclaiming the kingdom
of God, and teaching and
ministering to the needs
of others. It took three ex-
asperating years. Many
believed his message, but
just as many did not. The
Zealots misunderstood his
objective, thinking Jesus
would deliver Israel from
Roman rule, when in fact
he came to deliver Israel,
and all of us, from our
sins. The Jewish leaders
resented him because they
feared he would take away
their place of authority and
their nation. They needn’t
have worried. Jesus was not
interested in politics. His
focus was the kingdom of
Heaven, not that of Rome
or Israel. No, Jesus took
the arduous path, and it has
made all the difference for
everyone.
The next big event on
the church calendar is Pen-
tecost, occurring 50 days
after Easter. Don’t take a
shortcut to get there. Wor-
ship, study, pray, so that you
can rejoice then, and every
day, basking in the presence
of God’s redeeming love in
your life.
Neva D. Mahon
Hopeful Saints Min-
istry
that.”
Palmquist said down
the road he would be will-
ing to support something
like a portable AED to have
on-site at outdoor sports.
“They’re pushing their
bodies to the limit and that
AED could come in handy,
which is a medical-related
thing,” he said.
Also at the meeting, the
MCHD board approved an
agreement with Mindray
for a new software interface
for equipment. Mindray
is a company out of New
Jersey that specializes in
monitoring, anesthesia and
ultrasound systems. The
$14,398 agreement is for
a software interface for
the new electronic health
records system.
“It’s necessary,” Rob-
erts told the board. “It’s not
one where we can really do
without.”
The board also ap-
proved a new residential
lease agreement for a fur-
nished apartment in Hep-
pner. Roberts said the dis-
trict needed the furnished
unit to house emergency
room physicians, traveling
nurses and temp techni-
cians.
“There is an immedi-
ate, critical need for hous-
ing,” she said, “in excess of
what we’re able to provide
without this agreement.”
All of the health dis-
trict’s current units have
pretty much 100 percent oc-
cupancy right now, Roberts
said. Rent for the new unit
is $850 monthly. Roberts
said it is only a three-month
agreement and not anything
the board is locked into
long-term but reiterated that
it was necessary.
“We have need for it
next month,” she said.
Mahoney added that
the radiology department
has two vacancies right
now, and those are being
filled with temp techni-
cians.
“So, 24/7, you’re
talking about temp hous-
ing,” she said.
In the financial report,
Mahoney reported that
gross patient revenue for
February was $1,234,141.
That was down $183,000
from January, but Mahoney
pointed out that a lot of
variables impact that, in-
cluding the fact that Febru-
ary is a short month.
For instance, the hos-
pital had about 15 fewer
days of stay in February
compared to January, while
clinics had about 80 fewer
visits, “Most likely attrib-
utable to the short month,”
Mahoney said. However,
operating expenses such
as salaries and wages were
also down.
Other operating rev-
enue was $287,792, with
$285,000 of that from Co-
lumbia River Enterprise
Zone (CREZ) funding.
Non-operating net gain
was $103,643 for February.
Mahoney said $45,000 of
that was pass-through from
the City of Irrigon for com-
munity enhancement.
“They fund that through
their CREZ dollars that they
get in Irrigon,” she said.
January’s larger gain of
$552,488 had been due to
community service fees
and $200,000 of COVID
funding booked as income.
That leaves the district
with a $70,892 loss for the
month of February, with a
$269,024 loss year-to-date.
Roberts said that, while
the district has 11 open
positions, the staff turn-
over rate is low, only 4.4
percent. She also noted that
the board packet said days
cash on hand was 57, but
Mahoney had been doing
a thorough review since
taking over as interim CFO,
and that number was actu-
ally 69.
Clinic visits for Feb-
ruary were 293 for Pioneer
Memorial Clinic, 85 for
Ione Community Clinic,
390 for Irrigon Medical
Clinic and 144 for Board-
man Immediate Care.
In other business, the
board:
-ratified a radiology
director recruiting con-
tract with AMN Leadership
Solutions;
-ratified an agreement
with Wipfli for profession-
al finance and accounting
services;
-approved emergency
department privileges for
Dr. Michael Metzler, a reap-
pointment that was already
approved by the medical
staff; and
-ratified the EMS Ad-
visory Committee appoint-
ment of Dr. Metzler, who is
on the committee as super-
vising physician for the am-
bulance service provider.
At the end of the reg-
ular meeting, the board
moved into executive ses-
sion for the stated purpose
of considering information
or records that are exempt
from public inspection per-
taining to ongoing or antic-
ipated litigation.
Housing authority to meet
The next Heppner
Housing Authority meeting
will be April 11 at 4 p.m.
in the St. Patrick’s Senior
Center dining room. For
more information, contact
chairman Kay Rene Qualls
at 541-980-2836.