OMC sets special meeting on tax levy
By Jim Casey, Peninsula Daily News
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Hospital commissioners will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday to hear CEO Eric Lewis outline a proposal that could go before voters as early as August.
They'll meet in Linkletter Hall in the basement of the hospital, 939 Caroline St.
Commissioners have talked all around a levy lift since 2006, but Wednesday will be the first time they've placed it on their agenda.
One week later, they could formally authorize a special election.
If the hospital wants to place the issue on the Aug. 19 ballot, it must present a resolution to Clallam County Auditor Patty Rosand by May 27.
Hospital spokeswoman Rhonda Curry said Friday that Lewis still was working out details of the proposal, including the amount of the increase and its purpose.
Public discussion
"The discussion and the details will all be open," Curry said about the special meeting.
Before he unveils the tax proposal, Lewis will outline OMC's financial future.
It's not likely commissioners won't approve the increase.
"Short of an earthquake, I can't imagine this wouldn't move forward," Curry said.
Hospital District 2, which OMC serves in central and eastern Clallam County, presently has the lowest levy rate among the state's public hospitals — 11 cents per $1,000 of assessed fair-market value of a piece of real property.
It provides an annual $825,000 drop in a $119 million budget bucket, all allocated to charity care.
Hospital commissioners never have tried to increase it, but in the last few years, they've faced a mosaic of challenges, including:
OMC undertook a $5 million bond to buy and upgrade the facility.
The hospital has tried several strategies to stem costs, especially charity care, by donating a building to the Volunteers in Medicine of the Olympics at 909 Georgiana St. and another building to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which opened a clinic in August 2007 at 1005 Georgiana.
Shrinking nonprofit 'profit'
It also has switched to "hospital-based billing" that charges patients both for their doctors' services and for the cost of the facility.
The strategy barely is noticed by Medicare patients, especially at the primary care clinic that once belonged to Virginia Mason.
It has increased uncovered costs, however, for some patients with private insurance.
OMC finished 2007 with a negative operating margin — the "profit" for nonprofit agencies that funds equipment replacement and capital improvements — although it posted a positive margin for the first quarter of 2008.
But even that margin — 2.1 percent — was below 2007's first quarter margin of 3.3 percent and 2006's nearly 6 percent margin.
Lewis, the CEO, has raised the thought of the unthinkable: that OMC might have to sell out to a private corporation.
He and his commissioners are betting that voters won't allow that to happen.
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Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: May 10. 2008 9:00PM