Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 19, 2025 -- THREE
Community meeting over hospital and MCHD
~ Letters to the Editor ~
-Continued from PAGE ONE
the community.”
Patti Alstott, a former
hospital employee, urged
the public to “vote care-
fully” in the May election,
with four of five board
positions open.
“Seek out those who
are filing and ask what their
plan is to address it,” she
said, stressing the board’s
sole responsibility for the
CEO, who oversees all
staff. “We need people who
are open not only to discus-
sion but to action.”
Alstott shared her inter-
action with her new doctors
and said they ask her what
the hell is going on in Hep-
pner and she said “it’s pretty
embarrassing.”
Tarnasky clarified her
earlier remarks, saying “ad-
ministration” referred to the
board, not back-office staff.
Heppner resident Greg
Greenup recounted a hos-
pital visit where an ER
emergency allegedly left
other patients unattended
due to insufficient staff.
“That should never happen
in a hospital,” he claimed,
urging collective action
to “stop what’s going on
there.”
Cyde Estes lamented
the loss of personal con-
nection with temporary
employees.
“Knowing the people
in the community is good
care,” she said, recalling her
late husband Rusty’s EMS
work. “When someone
you know shows up in an
ambulance, there’s comfort
in that.”
She criticized the reli-
ance on non-local contract
workers, who don’t coach
baseball or sit on city coun-
cil, explaining the hospital
was once a core part of the
community—a role now
lost. Estes called for efforts
to refocus the board on hir-
ing local talent.
Travel nurse Brandy
Bommersbach said she
worked at the hospital for
four years as a per diem
nurse and read a statement
expressing willingness
to collaborate with the
MCHD board. However,
she claimed her hours were
cut, and she alleged a full-
time position offer was
rescinded.
“There are nurses will-
ing to come here and work,”
she said, noting only one
full-time RN position was
listed on the MCHD web-
site.
Estes asked if contract
hiring circumvented union
rules, but Bommersbach
couldn’t confirm MCHD’s
motives.
Nurse Kathleen Gree-
nup added, “Nurses don’t
want to work here because
there’s no security. I’m a
single mom who moved
here for a full-time position,
and now I drive an hour
away for job security.”
The discussion turned
to the hospital’s CT scanner,
vital for stroke diagnosis.
Employee Jimmy Wimer
explained the injector (an
injector is used to identify
strokes) had been down
for a month and was un-
repairable, with a new one
arriving March 14. An un-
identified audience member
alleged that it was down due
to deferred maintenance.
Heppner resident, Bri-
an Thompson, whose wife
Susie—a Registered Nurse
with 35 years’ experience,
certified in Advanced Car-
diovascular Life Support
(ACLS)—was allegedly de-
nied work beyond answer-
ing phones, also criticized
the board. He claimed that
at recent MCHD meetings,
50 percent of the meeting
focused on censoring public
comments instead of focus-
ing on important issues.
Thompson cited billing
delays, including one of his
ranch employees waiting
nearly a year for a bill after
needing stitches, despite
insurance paying in May
2024.
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Email to editor@rapidserve.net or upload to Heppner.net.
(R) Jason Hanna observes the Zoom monitor. He announced
his candidacy for the Morrow County Health District board
that evening. -Contributed Photo
Dr. Everts
Janet Greenup
“This needs to stop,
and we need a new board,”
he said.
Former employee Di-
ana Sharp said she was
terminated after 14 years
over voicemail, taking two
years to recover mentally.
Dr. Emily Jack, now in
Pendleton, said she signed
on with MCHD to serve
Heppner but rescinded due
to instability. She now sees
many Heppner patients in
Pendleton.
Patti Alstott claimed a
lack of providers reduced
revenue, impacting the
community economically.
Dr. Nichols recalled
many providers across clin-
ics, including a thriving
Irrigon location now “col-
lecting cobwebs.” He aims
to prioritize its revival.
Kathleen Greenup chal-
lenged the board’s “culture
change” narrative, noting
staff willingness to adapt
elsewhere.
More residents shared
stories and expressed fears
of losing the hospital entire-
ly, amplifying the urgency
of the situation.
Jason Hanna and Dr.
Nichols announced their
candidacies for the board
election in May. Hanna
emphasized sustainabili-
ty and community, while
Nichols vowed to improve
conditions to attract local
providers.
Janet Greenup, also
running for a board position
highlighted her family’s
deep ties to the hospital.
The most shocking tes-
timony of the night was
by Dr. Everts. Dr. William
Everts was on Zoom, but
called in for a better con-
nection. Dr. Everts warned
of retaliation risks for staff,
delivering a full statement:
“I wanted to let everyone
know that anyone working
at the hospital is taking
a huge risk right now of
retaliation, which this ad-
ministration is known for.
There is a great community
in Heppner. I mean, it is
really Mayberry RFD. It’s
an amazing place. And I
can’t speak for the other
doctors, but we love com-
ing and working here. We
like making sure the com-
munity is taken care of. We
want to be here. We respect
you, and you respect us. ‘At
night when we are in bed
and smell smoke we want
to know if the house is on
fire and I am telling you the
house is on fire.’ You have
an emergency crisis there,
that needs immediate at-
tention. Usually we ask the
administration to identify
problems and they make
decisions and things get
better, but I can’t say that is
a pattern I am seeing. I can
also say that the difficulties
I’ve had are recently with
labs, I don’t trust them and
I have had to have them
rerouted. In the radiology
department, I have to send
people away that are hav-
ing a stroke, A STROKE,
when time is an issue. This
has been a known issue for
a long time and has been
referred and referred and
referred. I am here to tell
you that you need people
that can make proper de-
cisions, people who have
experience in medicine.”
It was announced that
Dr. Everts was fired the
night before the meeting,
Monday, March 10.
Heppner resident Mike
Duncan pledged financial
support with Thompson for
any retaliated employees.
The meeting under-
scored a community united
in frustration, seeking ac-
countability and a return to
local staffing to preserve Pi-
oneer Memorial Hospital’s
role in Heppner amid fears
of its potential closure.
The Heppner Gazette
reached out to the Mor-
row County Health Dis-
trict for a response to the
meeting.
It should be noted that
the Health District stated
they were not invited to the
meeting and were unaware
of everything discussed,
though the Gazette provid-
ed them with some topics
and quotes from the event.
Addressing CT Scan-
ner/Injector Concerns
On Saturday, February
15, 2025, staff notified the
Outpatient Services Di-
rector of an issue with the
CT injector (used for CTs
with contrast). Staff were
able to continue care, and
the hospital was placed on
stroke divert. Within two
hours, technical support
had helped staff to regain
functionality of the CT
injector, however, the de-
cision was made to remain
on stroke divert out of an
abundance of caution. The
CEO, COO, EMS Director,
DNS, Outpatient Services
Director, and three radiol-
ogy techs participated in
that decision. Initially, the
service team believed that
the injector could be re-
paired. Unfortunately, after
attempting to install new
Dr. Russ Nichols
parts, it was determined
that the injector could not
be repaired, and a new in-
jector was ordered with an
installation date of March
17, 2025. Pioneer Memo-
rial Hospital remained on
stroke divert during this
time. Ultimately, there
were no ambulances that
had to be diverted during
this time. When PMH is
on any type of divert status,
the ambulance service and
surrounding hospitals are
notified. Statements are
not made to the public be-
cause PMH is not diverting
patients that self-present to
the emergency department.
When emergency care is
needed, the safest course
of action is always to be
presented to the nearest
emergency department. If
a patient that self-presented
needed to be transferred,
they would have the benefit
of being transferred with
medical support and a con-
sultation from the OHSU
tele-stroke provider. PMH
would only issue a commu-
nity divert notice if PMH
was asking patients not to
present to the emergency
department. Equipment
maintenance is the joint re-
sponsibility of department
leads, maintenance, and
administration. Depending
on the type of equipment, it
may require periodic pre-
ventative maintenance. In
the case of the CT injector,
PMH was working with the
service vendor to determine
whether it was more cost ef-
fective to complete another
service or to order a new CT
injector. For the past three
years, MCHD has been
applying for grant fund-
ing to completely replace
the CT machine, which
costs around $550,000.
Congressionally Direct-
ed Spending funds were
awarded to MCHD for this
purpose for FY25, however,
we received notice over
the weekend that these
funds will not be issued
due to Federal budgetary
decisions. MCHD has been
invited to re-apply for FY26
and will do so.
Broader Operational
and Administrative Issues
MCHD has always
utilized traveling staff at
PMH to fill gaps. Our
use of traveling staff did
increase during and post
COVID, which is true of
most hospitals. MCHD
generally employs staff in
four categories: full-time,
part-time, occasional part-
time, and temporary. OPT
staff receive a higher rate
of pay because they do not
receive benefits. For this
reason, certain departments
see staff move between full-
time, part-time, and OPT
positions frequently. This is
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
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I like to be comfort-
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or inflict pain (excluding
farm animals). As a result,
you won’t find one pair
of 6” spikey, pointy-toed
shoes in my closet. There
is, however, one pair of
dusty black 1” pumps and
I only have those because
my daughters wouldn’t let
me wear boots. I was also
informed that you don’t
wear flannel to a wedding.
Who makes these rules?
Trying to be fashion-
able is a pain. By the time
you find something that
“goes,” you spend the rest
of the time trying to keep
it from “going” where it
doesn’t belong. You can
tuck and tug all you want…
some clothes are just deter-
mined to win. I tried on a
pair of leggings once. Took
a good half hour getting
them on and I’m pretty
sure I pulled a couple good
muscles getting them off.
The whole thing is ex-
hausting. No wonder wom-
en are so cranky. Especially
since all that work really
doesn’t get you any closer
to the perfect silhouette
you’re going for. I mean,
whose idea was the Muffin
Top Jean anyway? And…
unless you’re 13, Skin-
ny Jeans make you look
something akin to Gru on
Despicable Me. Also, admit
it ladies, certain things just
should not be accentuated,
and there comes a time
when no amount of butt
bling is going to be an im-
provement.
But lately, I wonder if
maybe we’ve learned our
lesson. It appears the fash-
ion world has relaxed just
a tad. I recently watched a
bunch of teenagers walking
to the store during lunch
hour. I could have sworn
they had just crawled out
of bed. Apparently, PJs are
a style suitable for all occa-
sions...and they don’t even
have to match.
My dad had it right.
You never found him star-
ing in his closet wondering
what to wear. Aside from a
stint with a required Navy
uniform, he has worn the
same thing his whole life…
long underwear, a denim
shirt, Wrangler jeans and
boots. That was his summer
attire. Wintertime included
his heavier long undies and
Pendleton wool shirts. For
formal occasions, Wrangler
slacks and a string tie suf-
ficed. That was it. And that
got him through ranching,
raising kids, and the first 90
years or so of his life. To be
fair, he did own several pair
of pointy-toed heels, but
Tony Lamas don’t count.
So, I’ve decided to take
a little fashion advice from
my dad and simplify. As I
find myself staring into the
Sunset Years of my life, I
plan on spending less time
staring into my closet. From
now on, my choices will be
flannel or denim, period…
and maybe a good pair of
overalls. The only muffin
tops you’ll see coming
from me will be the ones
I’m taking out of the oven.
If I am ever so fortunate
as to be invited to dinner
or an occasion that affords
more formal attire, I will,
however, pull out my best
Wranglers and choose the
boots with the least amount
of poo. It’s the least I can do
for my dear daughters.
Susie Crosby,
Prineville, OR
Meeting
about health
district a
positive step
Last Tuesday, there was
a public community meet-
ing concerning MCHD
(Morrow County Health
District), specifically PMH
(Pioneer Memorial Hospi-
tal) and the clinic. It was
very short notice, and many
more concerned citizens
would have been in atten-
dance and participated on
Zoom.
The goal was to allow
facts about staff, including
doctors, nurses, lab and
maintenance, etc. “leaving”
the employ of the district.
There were no personal
attacks, no slander and no
names mentioned.
Positive comments and
commitments came out of
the meeting. It’s been a long
time since there’s been any-
thing positive on the topic
of PMH and the clinic. Let’s
keep it that way.
Greg and Janet Gree-
nup
Heppner, OR
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Heppner