Olympic Medical Center records profitable quarter

Published 1:30 am Friday, August 7, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center reported its first profitable quarter in years on Wednesday, even as the hospital district prepares to decide whether to adjust its property tax levy.

The board will vote on Aug. 19 on whether to raise its levy by 1 percent — the highest annual increase allowed by state law.

Voters approved a levy lid lift in 2024 that raised the hospital’s rate from 44 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to 75 cents per $1,000 — the maximum allowed under state law.

“We didn’t take it last year, but we believe we should take it this year,” said commissioner Penney Sanders, a member of the board’s finance committee.

The hospital district needs to make a decision on the levy in order to move forward with the 2027 budget process.

Interim CEO Mark Gregson said commissioners will see a draft budget in mid-October. It must be approved by their Nov. 4 meeting.

OMC posted a modest bottom line of $14,000 in June and finished the quarter $604,000 in the black after a $1.7 million first-quarter loss, controller and treasurer Amanda Christenson said.

Some of the quarter’s gains came from one-time settlements, grants and adjustments. Even without those, operations still turned about a 4.7 percent profit, she said.

Days of cash on hand in June rose four days — to 30 days — after OMC received a $6.1 million payment from the state’s distressed hospital program. Of that amount, $3.2 million went to reducing its accounts payable, which stands at about $23.1 million.

OMC accumulated $70 million in losses from 2022 to 2025, including $16 million last year.

Commissioner Tom Oblak framed the recent numbers against the years of losses.

“I understand the staff and community concern, but it is essential for OMC to right size itself or we will cease to exist,” he said.

A quality report Gregson presented — summarizing the hospital’s performance on patient care, safety, employee safety, treatment outcomes, wait times and patient experience — showed OMC improving on some measures, such as fewer patients leaving the emergency department without being seen, but falling short on others.

Against a goal of 162 minutes for overall length of stay in the emergency department, for example, OMC’s figure was 243.

The department also has grown busier. In June, it averaged 86 patients a day — a number that sometimes topped 100.

Gregson said a policy change should speed discharges and that a report next month should reflect that.

Commissioners raised concerns about workforce safety — how often staff are injured on the job — which rose from 5.4 injuries per 100 employees in May to 10.1 in June. The hospital had set a goal of no more than 5.1. Gregson said he will provide more details to explain the numbers at their next meeting.

OMC is still waiting for a response from the state Department of Health after a June follow-up visit about an immediate jeopardy problem in the emergency department. Gregson said inspectors flagged other items that also needed immediate fixes, then returned last week to review them.

“I think it likely will reflect as we’ve been cleared for that particular issue,” he said. “We may have some other things that they’ve identified as a result of being here, which is fine because we’re delighted if they find something we can work on and make better.”

Oblak reminded the board that a Department of Health visit last year found the hospital falling short on more than 60 requirements, putting its Medicare funding at risk.

“The progress that we have made with regulatory compliance since that time has been remarkable,” he said.

The board also will be asked at its next meeting to renew a $3 million line of credit with First Fed. Backed by a $3.4 million certificate of deposit, it would renew at 3 percent over the CD’s rate — a figure not set until the renewal closes Sept. 30.

Separately, Gregson said OMC had not heard back from KeyBank on a request to give the hospital more time to pay off its debt and reduce the amount of cash it must keep on hand. The hospital owes on two $20 million bonds, each of which requires a minimum of 60 days of cash on hand, a condition the hospital has been unable to meet.

OMC still hasn’t received the affiliation proposal from UW Medicine that Gregson said he was told would arrive at the end of July. The two health networks signed a letter of intent on Sept. 3, 2025, to explore an affiliation. The deadline for UW’s decision has been extended twice, most recently to Aug. 31.

Meanwhile, UW Medicine is moving quickly on clinical agreements, such as a virtual stroke program, replacing OMC’s agreement with Swedish Hospital, and for its cardiologists to assist in reading tests like echocardiograms.

Dr. Michael Wauters, director of the Port Angeles rural family medicine residency, updated the board on the program, which uses a “one-plus-two” model: a first year at Seattle’s Cherry Hill program, then two years on the Peninsula, with outpatient training at North Olympic Healthcare Network and inpatient rotations at OMC.

Founded in 2017 and expanded to three per class in 2021, it places residents across OMC, from the ICU to obstetrics.

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