OMC board asks for more time before voting on bond resolution

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 17, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center commissioners declined to vote on a resolution that would let the hospital seek a six-month extension on bonds coming due Dec. 1.

Several commissioners said Wednesday night they were asked to act on a document they had received only hours earlier and hadn’t had a chance to review it.

The resolution is tied to the hospital district’s pending refinancing of roughly $40 million in bonds held through Key Bank. Under the terms described at the meeting, the hospital must request an extension at least 120 days before the Dec. 1 due date — a deadline of Aug. 1.

A special meeting has been called for 4 p.m. July 27 during which the resolution will be discussed and voted on. The board’s next regular meeting is not scheduled until Aug. 5.

Interim CEO Mark Gregson told the board the hospital’s bond counsel had finalized the document that day, and that the hospital itself had learned of the option only within the past week.

“We don’t want to miss the opportunity to take advantage of it, but we just learned of this possibility ourselves too,” Gregson said.

Gregson said the resolution came out of a meeting with OMC’s bond counsel, Key Bank and Cain Bros., an investment firm that is managing the transaction. Those advisers suggested the board give itself some latitude to ask for more time, Gregson said.

He said the document had been reviewed by OMC counsel, and that Key Bank had indicated its lenders would accept it because the refinancing is already underway.

Amanda Christenson, OMC’s controller and treasurer, said the resolution was a contingency plan.

“This resolution is there to give us safeguards so that they don’t call those bonds on Dec. 1 and give us an additional six months to complete if needed,” she said.

The resolution would extend the optional tender date six months past the current date and protect the district, she said.

Commissioner Gerald Stephanz pressed on whether the bonds could be called now, given the hospital’s days of cash on hand. Christenson said they could, and that she believed the resolution waived that ability during the extension window.

“I’m a little disturbed that we’re being placed into a position of approving of something without some sense of review or opportunity to consider all of the issues at hand,” Commissioner Thom Hightower said.

Commissioner Carleen Bensen said she understood the rationale behind the resolution, but added, “We got blindsided on this, let’s face it.”

The board did authorize Gregson to finalize the district’s agreement with Cain Bros. for a fee of 1.25 percent — about a half-million dollars. The resolution passed 6-0, with Commissioner Nancy Field abstaining.

The bond refinancing follows a decline in the hospital’s cash position. Days of cash on hand have fallen steadily from 179 in 2020 to 26 in June. When the figure hit 59 days in September 2023 — below the 60 days required under the Key Bank agreement — commissioners were told the bank was aware and would not tender the bonds.

Through May, the district has lost $1.131 million against a budgeted loss of $3 million, a positive difference of about $1.8 million. However, Christenson said that came from one-time funds the hospital had not counted on and can’t expect every year. Without it, the loss would be closer to $2.5 million.

Scholarships

Bruce Skinner, executive director of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, introduced some of the recent recipients of its scholarship program, which was established to help increase the number of healthcare workers in the community and assist OMC employees in furthering their education.

The program has awarded $1.5 million in scholarships to 64 recipients since it began in 2023.

Gold award

OMC received the Washington State Hospital Association’s Rural Achievement of Quality Excellence gold award at its Rural Hospital Leadership on June 28.

The award recognizes hospitals participating in the Washington State Healthcare Authority’s Medicaid Quality Incentive Program that demonstrate performance in quality improvement.

This year’s evaluation focused on measures that included fall prevention, opioid harm reduction, sepsis and workforce safety.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.