EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Boardman wildfires County responds to ambulance lawsuit
burn more than
3,000 acres
-Continued from PAGE ONE 23. “…and the MCHD districts are authorized to public fear and passion with
Fire along 1-84 near boardman - Contributed Photo
Boardman Fire Rescue
District responded to mul-
tiple wildfires near Board-
man Sunday afternoon.
High winds caused the fires
to burn more than 3,000
acres.
BFRD responded short-
ly after noon on Sunday
after receiving call about
several wildfires along In-
terstate 84 west near Board-
man’s Main Street. When
firefighters arrived, they
found the fire line extended
a little more than 10 miles,
from Main Street to Three
Mile Canyon Road.
I-84 was closed for
several hours, and a unit
remained on the scene all
night to keep an eye on the
fire as it smoldered into the
early-morning hours.
No injuries were re-
ported.
Farmers market seeks
new coordinator
The future of Willow
Creek Farmers Market is in
question as it searches for
one or more new coordina-
tors. Previous coordinators
Andrea Nelson and Andrea
Di Salvo have announced
they are stepping down
from running the market
after having done so for the
last few years.
The farmers market in
Heppner has taken place
weekly every summer
since 2009 except during
COVID-related closures.
The coordinator is a volun-
teer position responsible for
planning, communication,
publicity and registration
for the market.
Anyone interested in
taking over the operation
of the market can contact
Nelson at 541-720-4399 or
Di Salvo at 757-285-5792
or email willowcreekfm@
gmail.com.
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an asset transfer agreement,
not an exclusive grant of a
franchise to provide ambu-
lance services indefinitely.
The MCHD lawsuit
also states that the ASA
plans required the health
district to create an EMS
Advisory Committee,
which the 2021 plan gave
express authority to admin-
ister and review the plan.
The county says this is not
the case.
“MCHD appears to be
under the mistaken belief
that it has legal authority
to govern ambulances ser-
vices within the County,”
responds the county. “That
belief is false. MCHD re-
fuses to recognize the law
or the fact that the County is
responsible for ambulance
service areas and plans, and
for appointment of ambu-
lance service providers.”
Meanwhile, the health
district is also seeking an in-
junction against BRFD and
Michael Hughes, saying the
fire district has been “ac-
tively engaged” in attempt-
ing to take over ambulance
services in Boardman “for
the purpose of obtaining
more funding and depleting
the funding being used to
satisfy the financial bur-
dens of running the health
district.”
MCHD also accuses
BFRD of intentionally dis-
rupting the health district’s
emergency medical ser-
vices and undermining pub-
lic confidence in the health
district.
“Those activities have
been so extreme and unsafe,
they have resulted in the
submission of numerous
ethics complaints to the
Oregon Health Authority
(OHA) that are currently
under investigation,” the
lawsuit states in paragraph
initiated and completed a
series of quality assurance
investigations and imple-
mented measures, pursuant
to the ASA Plans, aimed
at protecting the health,
welfare and safety of Mor-
row County residents and
visitors.”
One of those measures
was a finding of default
against BFRD with an at-
tached $169,000 in fines,
which the health district is
asking the court to enforce.
The county states that
MCHD has no authority
over BFRD and does not
have authority to levy fines.
In paragraph 45 of the
lawsuit, MCHD states that
both the health district and
Boardman Fire are spe-
cial districts operating in
Morrow County. Since the
health district is provid-
ing ambulance services
in the county, including
the City of Boardman, the
health district claims that
allowing BFRD to provide
ambulance services within
the ASA will violate ORS
198.720(2).
That Oregon Revised
Statute states, “A district
may not include territory
included within another dis-
trict formed under the same
principal Act when the oth-
er district is authorized to
perform and is performing
the services the affected
district is authorized to
perform….”
Morrow County re-
sponds that BFRD is a
rural fire protection district
formed under ORS Ch. 478,
and MCHD is a health dis-
trict formed under ORS Ch.
440, so the statute doesn’t
prohibit it if the board of
commissioners decides to
allow BFRD to provide
ambulance services.
“Rural fire protection
respond to all medical,
fire and emergency calls.
That is not a violation of
MCHD’s right to provide
ambulance transport,” the
county adds. “The public
benefits from reduced re-
sponse times and quicker
medical assistance.
The county also asks
the health district to supply
evidence to support claims
regarding loss of cost-based
reimbursement and why
response times would be
harmed by adding addi-
tional ambulances, among
others.
While Morrow County
Commissioner Jeff Wen-
holz is not named as a
defendant in the lawsuit,
the document does also
make ethics allegations
against Wenholz, saying he
failed to disclose a conflict
of interest regarding his
position on the Good Shep-
herd Health Care Board of
Trustees. The health district
further claims that position
caused him to act against
the best interests of Morrow
County residents.
In response to questions
about Wenholz’s role at
Good Shepherd, GSHC In-
terim CEO Emmett Schus-
ter told the Gazette-Times
that Good Shepherd trust-
ees are volunteers who re-
ceive no financial compen-
sation. In addition, he said
they are required to attend
educational conferences
once a year to keep abreast
of what’s going on in the
healthcare field so they
can better make decisions.
Schuster said Wenholz at-
tended the last conference
virtually.
“Morrow County is le-
gally required to update the
1998 ASA Plan and regrets
MCHD’s efforts to create
false narratives and inflame
baseless allegations,” states
the county’s release. “The
BOC has invited MCHD,
and others, to submit testi-
mony regarding their con-
cerns, and will consider
such in the formulation of
the final 2023 ASA Plan.”
Both the full text of
the MCHD lawsuit and the
county’s statement can be
found on their respective
websites, www.morrow-
countyhealthdistrict.org
and www.co.morrow.or.us.
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