Not long ago, I tripped on a tree root while backpacking.
The skin on my elbow was one big flap hanging down, exposing the bone.
I drove to the emergency room at our hospital in Port Angeles.
I was treated kindly and expertly by staff and medical personnel.
They cleaned out the dirt and repaired the flap with 10 stitches, then I could go home.
I think we can all agree that we need Olympic Medical Center (OMC) in both Port Angeles and Sequim.
Surgery, an ICU, cancer treatment, diagnostic imaging, lab work, a walk-in clinic and much more.
Now our hospital needs us.
Insurance, government and private, payments are covering only 85 percent of the actual cost of care.
Our hospital is running at a loss.
OMC is a Sole Community Hospital, one of four in the state.
It is also a Rural Hospital, one of 1,810 in the nation; for the ninth year, it has been rated in the top 100 of those.
Almost 700 rural hospitals are at risk of closing, mainly for financial reasons.
It is the largest employer in Clallam County.
Peninsula College’s nursing students use OMC for their clinical practice.
Please join me in voting yes on the Clallam County Hospital District #2 levy Aug. 6.
If you are 62 or older, or are disabled, and make $46,000 or less a year, you can go to the Assessor’s office in the Clallam County courthouse and apply to be exempt from having to pay any levies.
Pat Willits
Port Angeles