PORT TOWNSEND — When Vic Dirksen started in 1977 as administrator at St. John’s — the Catholic hospital that would evolve into the public hospital known as Jefferson Healthcare — it was housed in one building with 60 full-time employees and about 100 other part-time health care workers.
Today, Jefferson Healthcare is an institution based on Sheridan Street on Castle Hill with 360 full-time positions and about 550 part-timers.
Dirksen said he feels confident enough to walk away from the hospital and its $65 million budget.
Dirksen, 63, told the hospital board this week that he will retire at year’s end.
“I just think there are parts of me that I want to discover that I don’t know,” Dirksen said at his office inside the original building constructed in 1965 at a time when the complex had a $3 million annual budget.
Charity care
The hospital today provides $6 million a year in charity care to broaden access to those in need.
Since he started, the hospital has about tripled its space, adding on a final wing in 1993-95 that looks out over Port Townsend Bay.
As chairman of the Washington State Hospital Association Rural Strategies Planning Committee, he said he might keep his hand in health care for a while, but he is uncertain how long.
He said he wants to at least get in some travel time with his wife, Jeannie — but for now they plan to stay in Port Townsend, a community they have lived in and loved long.
One thing he is certain about is it’s the right time for him to quietly exit and help the board find his successor.
“In this phase of health care, there are a lot of changes to be made in the next 10 to 15 years,” Dirksen said.
“I think for this organization it’s going to be real good timing.”
With his help and assistance of the state hospital association, he believes the board will not have a problem hiring a highly qualified successor by year’s end, one who can dedicate at least 10 years of his or her time to the challenges ahead, depending on how President Barack Obama’s health care reform proposal plays out in the halls of Congress.
Asked what he saw as his greatest success after 33 years, Dirksen said:
“I am very pleased that this organization took the leap to access. There was not a safety net.”
$112 million revenue
As a critical access hospital under the voter-approved Jefferson County Hospital District, Jefferson Healthcare, formerly Jefferson General Hospital, last year generated revenue totaling $112 million with hospital charges of $47 million written off so all could have the access Dirksen cites as his key “core value.”
“I really want the public to use our clinic services,” he said, adding that he has aimed for excellence at all levels.
He said he hopes the next hospital chief executive officer carries that forward.
Dirksen, whose salary climbed from $30,000 a year when he started to $140,000, said he could leave the institution today and all systems would carry on.
Considering his possible departure more than two years ago, he accepted a three-year contract only, indicating to the board he might not want to extend it further.
He has gradually built a management team he feels can steer the hospital in his absence.
That team is comprised of Chief Operating Officer Paula Dowdle, Chief Financial Officer Jim Chaney, Chief Nursing Officer Terri Camp and Administrative Assistant Suzy White.
Keri Johns, associated administrator of health and human services and John Nowak, associate administrator for process improvement, round out the team.
‘His decision’
Chuck Russell, a Port Hadlock tavern owner who has been on the hospital board for 12 years and was just re-elected, said he hoped Dirksen would stay.
“It was his decision,” said Russell, who left as the hospital board’s chairman, handing the gavel to hospital Commissioner Jill Buhler.
“But I’d much would rather keep him”
“He never got stale.
“He was totally capable of reinventing himself.”
Russell said he believe that board has a tough job ahead but will fill Dirksen’s chair with the right person.
The board will talk more about how it will proceed on the search next Wednesday when it meets.
Leo Greenawalt, executive director of the Washington State Hospital Association, who has a home in Sequim, will address the hospital board at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to inform board members how the association can help in the search yet to begin.
“The institution is running well, and [the community] is a nice place, and I think there would be a lot of qualified people who will apply for the job,” Russell said.
Dirksen said he is working with Eric Lewis, Olympic Medical Center hospital administrator in Port Angeles, meeting with him today to consider other access needs across the North Olympic Peninsula.
“We are discussing how we can be working together,” he said, looking at enhancing neurology and oncology services right now.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.