Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 9

gJir Arizona Baita Star Tucson, Wednesday, May 1, 1985 fo) o) Page One County likely in part if ahccc i tH Jil I I if 1 1 to rema TO That, combined with demanding new state eligibility requirements, means "patients are frequently dis charged before they can complete the eligibility process," Fran Mona-chino, the county's eligibility administrator, told supervisors last week. The county gets stuck with the medical bills. By getting the Legislature to amend the state's AHCCCS law, counties could declare patients provisionally eligible "and then go about gathering documentation regarding the person's income and assets," Jack Nock, AHCCCS public information officer, said yesterday. If later documentation proves that the patient is not eligible, then the county would have to pay the medical bills, he said. Lena said he supports the eligibility change, adding that even though the legislative session is nearing an end, the matter could be quickly handled by lawmakers.

Nock wasn't as optimistic. "We're looking at it." he said of the eligibility change. "You can't rule anything out, but it is awfully late in the legislative session." Lena said: "We're just interested in the state designing the regulations so we can adhere to them. You can tell us to get on the other side of the wall, but at least give us a door to get there." By Bob Christman TtM Anions Daily Star Pima County's threat to pull out of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System apparently is dead. Sam Lena, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said yesterday that he will never vote to leave the state program, and that he does not expect the state to approve a demonstration project proposed last week by the board.

The project was designed to show that the county could provide the same or better health care for indigents for less money than AHCCCS does. The county's best hope, Lena said, is that the Legislature will give provisional eligibility to indigents while their eligibility for AHCCCS is being documented. That approach was discussed Monday at a meeting between Democrat Lena, Republican Supervisor Reg Morrison and AHCCCS representatives. County officials have said that AHCCCS initially paid for any medical care a patient needed in the 30 days before being declared eligible for AHCCCS. That retroactive period was reduced to five days two years ago and to one day beginning last May.

Emmrtt Jwrtaa, Th AriiM Dwtv Mar Raner C. Collins: "People come to court because they believe they have something a judge needs to hear" Job as judge fulfills prosecutor's ambition Man given death sentence for 3rd time in 79 slayings difficult to take the neutral position of a judge. "I'll try to keep an open mind and be as fair as I possibly can to both sides," he said. And he expects no problem in dealing with lawyers who were his colleagues as recently as yesterday. "Once you put on the robe, your rulings have the same effect whether you're a pro-tern or a judge," he said.

"I expect to be treated like any of the other judges." Collins said that although he didn't take the job solely as a stepping stone to a permanent judgeship, he is "definitely interested" in eventually being named to a permanent post, four of which will become available in the next year. The Judicial Nominating Committee for Pima County is taking applications for two positions opened by the retirement, effective today, of Judges Richard and Robert Roylston, and for a third position, created by the Board of Supervisors approval of a new division, effective July 1. Collins was one of seven finalists for an opening in 1983 in the newly created Division 18, which went to Judge William Sherrill. Meehan said Collins' experience in the criminal field and his time spent as a trial lawyer made him the best candidate for the job he will step into. For Collins, it is the opportunity he has been searching for since 1978 or 1979 when, he said, he decided he wanted to be judge.

"It's a big step in my life." By Jay Gonzales Th Arizona Daily Star At the end of his work shift yesterday, Deputy County Attorney Raner C. Collins said goodbye to seven years of work as a prosecutor. When he moves into his new job today, Collins will be getting the view of the courtroom he has been seeking since shortly after he began his legal career the view from the judge's chair. Collins, 32, was named a full-time Superior Court judge pro-tempore on the recommendation of Presiding Judge Thomas Meehan and a unanimous vote of the other 17 judges who make up the Pima County Superior Court bench. Collins, the first black man appointed to a full-time position on the bench here, said he doesn't consider that a major milestone.

He's just happy to make the move, he said. The appointment was made possible by the allotment of more than $200,000 to Pima County to fund two judge pro-tempore positions in an attempt to alleviate a backlog of criminal cases. The money comes from the Arizona State Enhancement Fund, which collects money through forfeitures, fines and fees paid to the state in criminal cases, Meehan said. The funds actually are allocated to the Arizona Supreme Court, which recently approved the full-time position Collins will fill and renewed a similar position held by William L. Scholl.

Both pro-tempore judges earn the same salary as the permanent judges, $62,500. And for the first time, full-time staffs including bailiffs, "clerks and a secretary will be hired for them. In the past, Scholl has been somewhat of a nomad around the courthouse, using any empty courtroom he could find and sometimes working without a bailiff. Meehan said it will be a relief for the two to have their own staffs. Collins said yesterday that he is confident that the transition from lawyer to criminal-court judge will be smooth, since most of his work has been in criminal law.

He isn't entirely inexperienced at being a judge, either. He spent two years as a Tucson city magistrate between stints in the County Attorney's Office. "I think it will help a lot in dealing with people as a judge," Collins said of his work in City Court, although it did not include the kinds of serious crimes he will face in his new job. "People come to court because they believe they have something a judge needs to hear. Either court is just as important to them." The Malvern, native came to Tucson in 1973 to attend the University of Arizona College of Law after obtaining a degree in sociology at the Arkansas Polytechnic College in Russellville.

He began work as a deputy county attorney, continuing until his appointment as a city magistrate in June 1981. After two years in that post, Collins returned to the County Attorney's Office as a deputy in the civil division. Collins is married and has a 12-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter. Although most of his legal work has been as a prosecutor, Collins said he won't find it By Beverly Medlyn Th Arizona Daily Star For. the third time, Jasper N.

McMurtrey III has been sentenced by the same judge to die for the 1979 slayings of two men at the Ranch House Bar near Tucson. "What's cruel and unusual about this case is that he's had to face this death penalty sentencing not once, not twice, but three times," defense lawyer Bertram Polis said yesterday. McMurtrey, 34, was convicted in 1981 of two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of Barry E. Collins and Albert. G.

Hughes and one count of attempted murder in the shooting of Eugene Taylor. His first death sentence, imposed by Superior Court Judge Jack Arnold, was overturned by the Arizona Supreme Court in March 1983. The high court ruled that Arnold's comments during the first sentencing in August 1981 indicated he might not have fully considered mitigating evi-dence that could have justified life imprisonment in place of the death sentence. Arnold resentenced McMurtrey to death after a November 1983 hearing that focused on his drug and alcohol problems, and the disruption in his childhood starting at age 7 when his father fatally shot his mother, who was involved with another man. That sentencing was also appealed, and was set aside in December.

The justices said Arnold had failed to use the proper standard in deciding whether the defense had proved mitigating factors. Arnold had said he wasn't convinced "beyond a reasonable doubt" that McMurtrey was too drunk that night to be totally responsible for his actions, but the high court said the defense needed to prove that point See MAN, Page 8B Avc7C3 ceo off operations (Indoors) OMost expensive ID Least expensive For Phoenix man there's no elixir except a heart-lung transplant By Cindy Hubert i 7ii Tucson-area hospital-care costs listed By Howard Fischer Th Arizona Daily Star PHOENIX Tucson General Hospital is listed as the most expensive in the Tucson area for 13 kinds of treatment in a survey compiled by the Arizona Legislative Council. The list, made available yesterday, specifies average charges for 47 medical procedures. It is arranged by diagnosis, designed to show all charges for treating a specific ailment, from room and board to drugs and the use of the operating room. Doctors' fees are not included.

Care at St. Mary's Hospital cost the most in nine cases, followed by Tucson Medical Center at seven, St. Joseph's Hospital at three and El Dorado Medical Center at two. Northwest Community Hospital did not show up as being the most expensive in any of the 47 areas surveyed. University Medical Center, having been a government-owned facility for at least part of last year, was exempt from the requirement to file a report this year.

But state officials said it should be included in next year's listings. Kino Community Hospital was listed in the survey as the highest in 13 areas, but the figures for Kino, unlike those for all other hospitals, include the costs of doctors' services, making it impossible to compare them with the others. Kino Administrator Art Gonzales said yesterday that differences be- tween the county-owned hospital and other hospitals are, therefore, exaggerated. He said patients at Kino receive a See TUCSON-AREA, Page 8B Tht Atioctatftf Prm x' Terry May's story is "not something you want to share" Tha Arizona Daily Star Terry May sat in his doctor's office last year, listened to the diagnosis, and then waited to hef" about the cure. The 32-year-old Phoenix man was told he had primary pulmonary hypertension, a lung condition that was also causing his heart to fail.

He was told the condition, more threatening than common hypertension, or abnormally high blood pressure, was terminal. No cure, no effective treatment. "You wait for them to tell you, 'It's a serious disease, but we have this elixir. Just take it every day and you'll be But we just kept waiting," the soft-spoken May said in a telephone conversation yesterday. "It's so funny," he said with a nervous laugh.

"There are millions of diseases of every kind in the United States, and everything has a cure. But not this one." Still, May, an Arizona State University graduate who worked as an accountant until his illness forced him to quit recently, wasn't about to accept death so easily. He and his wife, Jane, began inquiring about heart-lung transplants, and their questions led them to Dr. Jack Copeland at University Medical Center. Copeland told him the operation was his only hope.

Terry's future hinges on a special set of circumstances: Someone with a healthy set of organs compatible with his body must die somewhere in Arizona. And the person must have agreed or the family must agree in. the immediate aftermath of his or her death to donate the heart and lungs to May. Tonsillectomy 1,087 932 1,017 909 adenomectomy Age 0-1 7 4,059 1,139 3,356 3,740 4,033 2,348 1,872 I 3,150 2,275 2,105 Aflina pectoris 1,387 2,591 1,533 1,830 1,375 AfleiwS9 "i ii a I 3,134 2,142 1,934 2,372 1,979 aJSRSto IHBHHH MMMMBM MMBM MMBMBMi MBMWHMMMM Non-fedlcal I 4,441 2.6S5 2,718 3,138 2,683 hysterectomy Age less then 70 4 Ma Normal delivery 1,727 1,065 of newborn LI Normal newborn 391 372 regular care 1,248 787 1,138 1,106 1,068 Age less than 70 i Back and neck 4,081 10,267 4,321 4,625 4,076 surgery Age less than 70 2,112 1,294 2,471 2,670 2,762 In the traumatic moments after a loved one's death, "most people don't even want to think about" the prospect of the body being cut open and the organs removed, May said. "But if people would just think about it ahead of time and say, 'Honey, when I die, I want to donate my organs That's all it would take.

Just a minute. Then the family wouldn't have to make those kinds of decisions." About six weeks ago, UMC's transplant team located what it thought was a suitable set of organs for May. But the lungs were later found to be damaged. Meanwhile, the Mays are waiting again. "My family is getting concerned," May said.

"I don't have any pain. I'm just getting weaker and weaker." In four months, that has not happened, although one "close call" came about six weeks ago. And May is now barely able to get around. He used to work full time, hike, camp and play sports on the weekends. Now, he just sits and reads or watches television, mostly and he waits for the telephone call that will give him hope.

Although he has been reluctant to do so until now, he and his family decided to make his story public. "It's not something you want to share with the world," May said. "But if it can possibly help me in locating a donor and help others, I figure I should do what I can." Because donor lungs cannot be preserved, heart-lung operations must be performed almost immediately after the patient who is donating the organs dies. Hospital doss not do procedure Kino figures Include physician' fees.