OCR Text |
Show Salina Sun. Wednesday. March 2. 1 994 Page 8. NSH Wolves move on to State paly, finish Third in Region 13 Tourney By Mark Patterson The North Sevier Wolves hosted the region 13 basketball tour- nament last week and narrowly clinched third place and the right the compete in the the state tournament this weekend. The Wolves made quick the Parowan Rams the of easy prey first night by thoroughly stomping them back into the hills from wenst they came, as the Wolves Mike Johnson, seemingly owned the court and helped send the Rams off with a 23 point loss. But, Friday night the Monticello Buckaroos proved to be a more worthy adversary for Wolves by holding the score close with tight belly to belly defenseJNeither team was able to drop the first points of the game until half way through the first period when North Sevier sunk a three pointer, and the quarter end- ing with a score of 7-- 8. But the Wolves refused to be intimidated and regained the lead at the half up by two, 20-1- 8. North Sevier went into the forth period holding firm to a three point lead. However, Monticello rebounded tying the game with 4:39 to play as the Buckaroos started to roll seemingly unstoppable. With Monticello up by two and only forty-nin- e seconds left the Wolves called their game for a time out to nailed Johnson up five more plan. of the finals seconds in the points much was of an to time but game, as Wolves the for they fell opponent 51-4the to Buckaroos, This loss left North Sevier ck 8. State Park fees to increase in a do or die situation the following day as they went up against San Juan to battle for the right to compete as the number three seed for region thirteen. The game vaguely carried u for North Sevier as hint of Deja-va they again found themselves in a close knit race. Fatigue seemed to not be a factor for the wolves as they found themselves down by three points with two minutes remaining in the game. However, the Wolves were undoubting as they recaptured the lead and stepped in for the win. North Sevier will travel this Mike Johnson were accepted to the all region team for their outstanding performances on the tournament. ,v i-- , m i weekend to compete in the State Tournament. Rhett Hallows and i X) in 1 994 Visitors to State paries will see mittance during the day to all of aid of a wheelchair or other mechanisome changes in state Park fees in Utahs state parks, as well as a $2 cal device. Disabled individuals must 1994. discount on overnight camping on provide a doctors statement verifyFor the first time ever, holdSunday-Thursda- y ing the nature and extent of their disnights. ers of a Utah State Park Special Fun Were very pleased to now ability. The Special Fun Tag is offer Special Fun Thg holders a campTag will receive a weeknight discount on camping. A Five Day Pass and a ing discount on weeknights, said available at any Utah State Park or slight increase in camping fees on Steve Roberts, financial manager of the divisions administrative office, located at 1636 West North Temple Friday and Saturday nights are other the Utah Division of Parks and Recwill visitors in Salt Lake City. reation. changes Utahs state park find in 1994 and 1995. For the first time, a Five Day The Special Fun Tag is The changes, approved by available free of charge to Utah resiPass will also be offered in 1994 and the Utah Board of Paries and Recre1995. The $10 pass allows the dents, age 62 or older, who provide ation, went into effect January 1, proof of age, such as a driver license passholder and up to seven guests 1994. The fees remain in effect until or birth certificate. The pass is also traveling in the same private motor December 3 1, 1995. available to residents over the age of vehicle, access during the day, for five Holders of a Utah State Paik five, who are either blind or permaconsecutive days, to all of Utahs state the without ambulate Special Fun Tag are allowed free ad to unable parks. nently . ; .a CountyResidentstorepresentAFindoortodoordrive 240,000 Utahns with arthritis. The Arthritis Foundation is the only volunteer health agency seeking the total answer of the causes, cures and prevention of over 100 forms of arthritis. We hope this program and the volunteers will spread accurate information about arthritis throughout the state, said Wendy Zundel, Director of Development for the Utah The campaign allows Chapter. Five Sevier County residents have been appointed chairpeople of the 1994 Door to Door Campaign to benefit the Arthritis Foundation, Utah Chapter. The chairpeople are Nikki Mickelsen, Redmond; Celia Cowley, Venice; Cheryl Hendrickson, Glenwood, Heidi Bird, Salina and Mary Graham, Sigurd. The funds raised during the campaign will be used to serve the , What Can Be Done to Reform necessary. Steve Kohlert Senior Vice President ntermounmin Him. th Care Rural health care is not just concern of rural residents. Most of us who live in the larger cities of the Intermountain West travel through rural areas often, in pursuit of business or recreation. Tourism, mining, ranching, transportation, and many other industries depend on the existence of rural health services; and these businesses support many jobs in cities as well as in rural areas. Readers of this column have asked how health care reform will affect rural care. Indeed, the impact of reform proposals on rural care remains a nagging question that has often been given inadequate attention in public policy debates about reform, because rural health issues are different in many ways from urban health issues. Here are some thoughts on the special nature of rural care and how we might approach issues of reform: CURRENT CONCERNS ABOUT RURAL HEALTH CARE 1. Competition with urban hospi- 2. Lack of economies of scale. Its hard to maintain low prices when youre dealing with relatively small numbers of patients. Imagine, for example, that a rural hospital and an urban hospital each invest in identical $75,000 mammography systems. The urban hospital has 10 mammography patients a day, but the rural hospital only has three. Because of the higher volume, the urban hospital can charge less for each mammo- are suspicious of participating in health systems, where hos- numerous clinics, is committed to providing rural health pitals, physicians, and managed care plans such as HMOs join together to provide a full health range of services. Although competition between these care services. cost-effecti- integrated systems is the cornerstone of most reform proposals, some rural hospitals accomplish two goals: 1. Define essential health services which should be located in rural areas. 2. Identify a structure to assure the efficient delivery of these services in rural areas. representation. If you have a question related to health care, please call or write. Labor shortage. non-clinic- al 0 J ical staff. OBSTACLES TO RURAL REFORM Lack of competition. Most reform proposals rely on 1. our region needs to full-servi- greater difficulty in covering their costs. 4. We believe The most effective way to accomplish these goals is undoubtedly through a combination of public and private initiatives. In the Intermountain region, there are already many examples of successful partnerships between rural facilities and health systems, where transport services, outreach programs, and other services are brought to rural areas. These rural providers benefit from integration while retaining significant local gram it performs. 3. Payment problems. Rural hospitals tend to see a higher percentage of Medicare and uninsured patients compared to urban hospitals. Since hospitals receive lower reimbursement for treating Medicare patients and often no reimbursement at all when treating the uninsured this means that rural hospitals have Physicians, nurses, technicians, and other clinical and staff members are often difficult to recruit and retain in rural areas. One rural hospital in this region recently lost SvtOHf two of its physicians half its med- tals. In dollar terms, most health care to residents of rural areas is delivered in the cities. Rural hospitals often lose patients and rev- - managed competition which depends on a mixture of government regulation and competition between health care providers. These models may not work well in rural settings because a community can only support one hospital. 2. Cost versus access. Cost is the primary problem with health care in urban areas, but access to services is IHC DIALOGUE the primary problem in rural areas. Managed competition is designed primarily to control cost. 3. Low managed care pene- tration. Currently, most rural residents in the Intermountain area are not enrolled in HMOs and other managed care plans, and managed care is at the heart of managed competition reform proposals. Reluctance to align with systems. Some rural hospitals 4. may view such integration as a threat to their autonomy and another way to lose revenue and patients to urban areas. ON HEALTH CARE 36 South State Street Salt Lake City, Utah 841 1 1 A RURAL AGENDA The first step in bringing the benefits of health care reform to rural areas is to recognize that a strong rural health care system is vital to our regions citizens and economy. Intermountain Health Care, with 12 rural hospitals and fected by arthritis. Commentperiod extended Jerry Goodman, District Manager of the Richfield District Bureau of Land Management announced that the comment period for the District Animal Damage Control Environmental Assessment has been extended to March 28, 1994. For further information contact Curtis Warrick at 150 East 900 North, Richfield, Utah 84701 or call copies of the assessment are available at the above address. 896-822-1. PostOfficepuilsout Rural Health Care? enues to urban hospitals. Sometimes this is necessary, as when a rural hospital lacks the capability to treat a patient, but sometimes it is not people to make a gift when a volunteer contacts them. The mission of the Arthritis Foundation is to find the cure for an prevention of arthritis, and to improve the quality of life for those af- SANPETE VALLEY HOSPITAL FT IHC Servict of Intermountain Health Can A (Continued from page 1) service conduct study such as this one -- 1. Postmaster Vacancy, 2. Emergency, such as fire, natural diaster, etc. or 3. Special Circumstances. The reason for the study in Ax tell being the vacancy of Postmaster Stella Lee Jensen. Mr. Bloxham told residents that everything that is said at the meeting will be part of the docket that will be sent to Washington D.C. for the final decision. He then told residents about the plans for the CPO station and then turned the time to residents for comments and questions. One of the main questions from residents was why cant Sheryl just take over as Postmaster and leave the service as it is? Mr. Bioxham stated that to bid for the position of postmaster you must have three years of service with the postal non-care- er service and Sheryl has only 1 12 years. All residents of Axtell expressed their concern that this is the only businessgovemment agency in the town and that it is the heart of the town. It is more than just a post office to the residents of Axtell it isa place where they gather to visit and collect news. Sheryl Steiger was con- cerned that she had made an investment into the building and now the future was uncertain. If a someone else bid the CPO and chose not to use the present location she would be stuck with a building and no job. After consideration, Lynn Bloxham, stated that he was going to recommend a Highway Contract Station for Axtell so that they could compensate Sheryl by leasing the building from her. A Highway Contract Station is even one step down from a CPO. A resident cannot buy stamps, mail packages, etc. unless they meet the mail carrier as he is sorting mail at the building or the Stamp by Mail program. This recommendation will now go into the docket along with comments and the questionnaires sent by local residents and send to Washington D.C. for the final decision. This process can sometimes take up to several months maybe even a year before a final decision will be made. L POOR! ft |