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Show Wednesday, March 23, 1988 Volume 66 Number 12 Lions Board ht n problem Club sets Birthday Party Tonight, Wednesday, at 7 p.m., the Salina Lions Club will hold their annual Birthday Party. The Salina Lions Club has been in continuous existence for 64 years -since 1924. It is one of the oldest clubs in the state of Utah. All Lions are encouraged to attend, and bring their wives. This is a special Ladies Night Social. A good program has been planned. The Gunnison Hospital -- Chairman Salina 3rd Ward Budget Dinner Gov- erning Board meeting was held last Thursday evening to discuss concerns and issues facing the Hospital. More than 400 concerned residents attended. Mardell Jensen called the meeting to order, and told the group it would be an informative one, and asked that it remain orderly throughout. Afteraninvocation.theminutes The Salina 3rd Ward is of the previous meeting were read and having a combined Budget Dinner approved. and Music Festival Thursday, Lee Sorensen said that he and March 24 , at 6:30 p.m. in their Ward other Board members had received Building. many phone calls and visits from area The Talent in the Ward residents who were concerned about will shine that night, and it promthe future of the Gunnison Valley ises to be an enjoyable evening. Hospital. The Board had felt that it Two beautiful quilts will might be good to look into the possibe auctioned off. bility of joining IHC or Hospital AssoWard members are asked ciation of America, but they now felt to bring their own dishes, and come that the people of the V alley definitely to the Spring Bouquet of Music! didNOT want to pursue that route. The motion was made and approved that Parent-Teach- er we do not approach IHC or other such associations, and that we work out our problems on the local level. The time was turned to Dr. Von S. Pratt, who read a letter to the group. Parent-teachconferThe letter referred to an earlier letter he ences will be held at Salina Elemenhad written, which had appeared in a local newspaper. Dr. Pratt apologized tary School March 23 24, and 28, 29. for his anger at the time he had written School will be dismissed the letter, and retracted the resignation at 1 p.m. on each of these days, he had threatened in that letter. Dr. Pratt encouraged the Board however, the kindergarten classes will be held as usual,, . and the public 'to consider the services For more Information of Dr. Richard McDermott in evaluatcontact the school at ing and assessing the needs of the hospital. He said he sustained the Board in their decision and thanked them for their love and concern. Miss North Sevier Dr! Pratt also reported that he, Dr. Richard Nay, Dr. Dwight Inouye, and Dr. Jan Christensen, have pledged to send their lab work, etc., from The Miss North Sevier Workwhile their to the offices own Hospital 30 at7: March be held will 24, p.m shop This the is being performed. study for all contestants in the contest. The the will a financial loss be to physiSeviei North at held Workshop will be cians themselves, he said, but it will High School. All contestants are en be a boost for the Hospital. couraged to attend. Rodney Anderson told the group that the Board had questions concerning the administration of the We felt we needed outside Hospital. WecontactedEugeneBeck.who help. Senior Citizens then referred us to Dr. Richard McDer- Interviews at Elementary er 529-746- 2. Workshop Potluck Dinner The Senior Citizen Potluck Dinner will be held Thursday, March 24, at 6 p.m. at the Center. Ham will be furnished by the Advisory Council, and Seniors are asked to bring a vegetable or dessert dish. Please bring your own dishes. mott. Anderson then introduced Dr. Richard McDermott, saying that he has a firm background in this field, including working for several Health Care Organizations; receiving a Masters Degree in Hospital Administration; a D.O. in Accounting; teaches hospital administration and accounting at B YU, and has his own consultant firm. Parent-Teach- er interviews at Middle School planned Parent-teachconferences will School on Middle Salina at the held je March 29th and 30th beginning at 1 : 30 er We want to find out what we must do to make our hospital strong. It is an important p art of our commun ity, Anderson said. Dr. McDermott then took the that he has had extensive experience in working with rural Utah. He spent two years at Sevier floor, and reported Price .35 Valley Hospital, and was instrumental in obtaining a $400,000 grant to establish rural health networks. McDermott reported that last summer he had been employed by the Duchesne County Hospital Board in a similar situation. He had conducted a management review, looked at policies, procedures, and held hearings. At the end of the study, he recommended that the Administratorbereplaced. The Board carried out his recommendations and the Hospital is going forth under new direction. McDermott recently worked with the Tooele Vail ey Hospi tal , which was going bankrupt. Competition was drawing its patient load elsewhere. After his study there, his recommendation was to keep the present Administration, but other suggestions were made to help keep the hospital solvent. McDermott noted the changes in the hospital system over the past few years, with the Prospective Payment System (DRGs) and the pressure federal government regulations had posed on Administration in all hospitals. He noted that it was projected that by d of all hospital beds, 1990, especially in rural hospitals, would be closed down due to lack of revenue. The hospital and the Board need the county behind them; they need good leadership; and they need support from their medical staff, he said. McDermott said his study would take 6 to 8 weeks, and would cost about $8,000, including travel, etc. Part of the study would include interviewing hospital personnel, medical staff, Board members, and all interested citizens. A member of the audience asked if McDermott conducted the interviews personally. He replied that he did hire some professionals in various categories to help with the interviewing. The motion was then made and approved to hire Dr. McDermott. There was applause from the audience, and some rose to their feet. Mardell Jensen said that the entire Board felt that this was an exAs a tremely Important decision. Board we felt we needed this professional help. Weknowwearenotknowl-edgeabl- e in many areas, he said. From this point, questions were entertained from the group attending. the has Question: Why s ts Receivable Accoun grown hospital so large? Administrator Dale Hospital Roscnlund explained that this area is not a heavy insurance area. We arc basically a farming community, and not much insurance is carried, he .said He reported that collection agencies had been tried, and that there had been attempts to keep the cash flow moving Those who had trouble paying accounts were put on a contract program, and could make monthly payments against their accounts. Many of the accounts are old ones, he noted. We try to be kind. We know people have one-thir- problems. Question: Are the salaries of the Administrator, nursing section etc., at Gunnison V alley Hospital the same as those in other rural areas? Chairman Jensen responded that This is one of the things we want to study. We are concerned about some of these areas, however, we presently feel that for the most part, they are not out of line. We want to have good people, and we want to pay for them, Jensen said. This will all be covered in Dr. McDermotts study. Possibly we should not change salary amounts, but we may change the number of people paid those salaries." Administrator Roscnlund noted that it is the volume of business that pays for the expenses of the hospital. He said that both Richfield and Mt. Pleasant were associated with IHC. Rosenlund then gave a breakdown of area participation in the hospital: Gunnison area provided 17 of the total patient load; Manti was 11.2; Salina was next with Mayfield, 3.3; 9.1; 11; 8; 6.1; Aurora, 7.7; Redmor.d, Richfield, 2.3; Axtell, Pleasant, 1.9; .6. Center-fiel- Ephraim, Fayette, Loa, 1.4; 2.2; and Mt. Rosenlund said that 62 percent of the hospital business came from the Gunnison Valley; 26 percent from Sevier Valley; and 6 percent from -Wayne County. He noted that this years totals are down somewhat from last year. Can the Gunnison most cases handle Valley Hospital without having to transport them to other medical facilities? Dr. Pratt responded that he estimated at least 85 of all cases could be covered locally. Thats dam good for a rural hospital with 4 doctors,! he emphasized. Dr. David Peterson, of the hospital radiology department, told of recent purchases made to improve service, including ultra sound equipment, which is used about 20 times each month; and the new mammogram equipment. He said that in most cases, as could be We can do as well done at the University of Utah hospital, or elsewhere!. Our equipment is good, and we have excellent techniQuestion: he cians! Applause followed his remarks. Boyd Donaldson then took the floor, saying that what he was going to do was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do in his entire life. Donaldson addressed Rodney Anderson. He said that he had heard that the hospital had had difficulty in meeting its payroll last payday, and that a loan had been obtained to meet this liability. Will you please clarify this, Rodney? Anderson agreed that the hospital is struggling, and that its financial condition isnot well off. We did have to borrow to meet our payroll ex penses. Our friends at Gunnison Valley Bank covered the money for us. Donaldson then asked concem-i- n state of the audit. He said he had the g documents, signed by a CPA, which stated that the management did not want the public to know the audit results. Bids Administrator Rosenlund said there had been Medicare audits conducted through the years, but that there had not been a certified audit request for the last 10 years. Leon Nielson, CPA, said that Continued on page 2 opened to pavel-7- 0 The Utah Department of Transportation opened bids recently on a project to pave connecting roads to Interstate 70 Interchanges in Sevier County. The twenty mile section of from Belknap to South Richfield is nearly complete, and this project involves paving connecting roads to the interchanges at South Richfield and Joserrh, and some modifications to the Belknap interchange. JTN Construction, of Richfield, submitted the apparent low bid of $253,036. UDOTs official engineers estimate was $273,923. The contract will not be awarded until the bids are reviewed to make certain no errors were made and that all requirements are met. Grading work is already complete on the connecting roads to the South Richfield and Joseph interchanges. This project involves paving those roads through the Interchange I-- areas. At the Belknap Interchange, the to temporary construction from State Route 4 will be eliminated and signs for the Fremont Indian Museum will be placed. Subsequent contracts will be required to complete construction of the connecting roads to Elsinore Interchange and the Sevier Junction Interchange. Work on this project is expected to begin soon. The contract allows forty working days, or about two months and should be completed by early summer, at which time the section from Belknap to South Richof field can be opened. There will be some traffic interference, mainly to local traffic. Federal aid funding will supply about94percentof the project cost, and UDOT will supply matching funds. Press box funds needed to finish trackfield complex Funds are needed to complete the press box section at the new track and Field complex at the high school. To do this a committee chaired by Jack Learning has come up with several fund raising ideas. Wepropose to sell chair seats in the press box section for $500 a chair to raise thenecessary finances to build the press box building, said Learning. The school board recently gave another $10,000 to complete the sodding, cement work, installation of the scoreboard, and other odds and ends projects at the complex. The work on the press box seating will be done strictly by fan support through their donations. Needed is about $12,000 for this project. These chair seats will be identified with the name of who donated for the chair. Approximately 24 chairs need to be sold to raise the necessary funds. The committee feels that this pressbox, which will house a concession room, a storage room, and 2 restrooms, is needed to complete the facility. Plans are already progressing to complete the building. Also there are individuals working in Salina and Aurora and Redmond calling people who they feel would be interested in donating to this facility. This could be financed by a family or individual in buying these seats. The donation is tax exempt. If anyone is interested in buying a seat who hasnt been contacted you can call Jack Learning at The money is needed as soon as possible to complete the facility before the high school regional track meet to be held in Salina in May. 529-390- 8. p.m. Students will be released after lunch with the buses taking them home. The school is suggesting that parerits will their last name starting with K to Z to attend on Tuesday, March 29 and those starting with A to J attending on Wednesday, March 30. This is only a suggestion to help with over crowding. Parents are encouraged to attend when ever possible. The conferences will be held in the new gym. Report cards and SAT test result will be given toparents. For more information con tact theMiddle school at 529-384- Original musical to be presented by high school An original musical, entitled Rapunzel will be presented by students from North Sevier High School Friday, Saturday, and Monday, March 25, 26, and 28th, in the High School 1. Tryouts at Snow All Senior girls are invited to participate in the upcomfor ing tryouts at Snow College Basketball. and Volleyball Dates set for the tryouts are as follows: March 25, 6 to 9 p.m. March 26, 9 a.m. to Noon March 28 - April 1: 1 to 3 and possibly the morning of p.m., 9 am. to Noon. 2 from April Call the Womens Athletic Department at Snow College, 2834021, extension 372, and let them know when you are planning to attend, and if you will need overnight housing. Auditorium. The script and music were composed by Kent Jacobsen, Instructor at NSHS. Ive been workingon the play for about twoyears, Jacobsen said. It has a story plot that I think will appeal PREPARE FOR PLAY: Billy Hales, David Gibson, Jewly Ann DeMille, Cammy Gladwell, Merillee Curtis, Gro Hannemyr and Brent Hales put on the finishing touches on the musical Rapunzel which will be performed at the high school on March 25, 26 and 28. to all ages. Eight NSHS students are in the and have been working on the cast, production since February. They have put in long hours of practice after school hours, and Mr. Jacobsen feels the pi ay will be ready for presentation. Cast members include: Rapunzel, Jcwlyann DeMille; Prince, Billy Mer-rile- e Hales; Witch, Cammy Gladwell; David Curtis, Gro Hannemyr, Gibson, Brent Hales, Lloyd Mecham, of Monroe, Westlund Music, has produced the orchestration for the play; Karren Glover is Assistant Director; and Janet Swenson, of BYU, has done the costuming. Everyone is invited to come to the High School and enjoy the play, March25,26,or28,at7:30p.m. Tick- ets are $2.50 for adults; $1. for students with activity cards, or children; $ 10 for a family ticket. Tryouts were held for all members of the studentbody in January. Eight students were chosen for the play, and have been putting in long hours rehearsing, and getting the production ready for presentation. Cast members include: Rapunzel, Jewlyann DeMille; Prince, Billy Hales; Witch, Cammy Gladwell; Mer-rile- e Curtis, Gro Hannemyr, David ' Gibson, Brent Hales, tli |