In August 2024, Clallam County voters approved a levy to extricate Olympic Medical Center from its debt, and they assumed the levy would help keep the hospital public and under local control.
However, in December 2024, the OMC board announced it would consider partnership with another healthcare system to ensure the hospital’s financial viability.
That search has begun, and the decision is expected in May.
An entity spending substantial money to stabilize our hospital will want control of board decisions and budgeting.
So, a new board will be in charge of our local hospital and its physicians.
Surprisingly, the board has not stipulated protections it would require during negotiation, nor indicated what services should be preserved, or whether voters will still determine board membership, or whether OMC’s physicians can choose to be independent.
During public comment, citizens attending the OMC meetings have asked that the board choose a partner which honors Death with Dignity and women’s health care, without constraint from religious directives, as are imposed in Kitsap County and in several Seattle hospitals.
These are the same hospitals that would gain the most from OMC financially, via referrals to their own specialists.
People have asked the board for a public hearing where citizens could get answers, but the board apparently does not plan on any such meeting.
This is a violation of the public trust.
Contact your board representative and demand a public hearing.
Judith Parker
Sequim