Facing a loss of $12 million so far this year, Port Angeles, Wash.-based Olympic Medical Center has laid out a plan to reverse its financial situation in the next one to two years.
Olympic Medical Center operates several primary and specialty care clinics, along with its flagship 67-bed hospital, Olympic Memorial Hospital. In a June 19 news release discussing the challenges that led to the financial recovery plan, the organization cited rising costs for supplies and contracted employees, along with Medicaid and Medicare rates that have not kept pace.
The hospital does expect some reimbursement relief in mid-2024 through increased Medicaid funding in Washington.
"It's a challenging financial picture at the best of times," Olympic CEO Darryl Wolfe said during a community meeting June 16, according to the Sequim Gazette.
According to the report, traveling clinicians cost the organization $300,000 per week, and it currently has 275 open positions. The organization has about 68 days of operating costs in its general fund, and 82 percent of its payer mix is from federal programs.
Mr. Wolfe briefly addressed litigation involving the organization and alleged issues with a physician last year. Josiah Hill, MD, a former emergency room physician at the hospital, has been charged with five counts of indecent liberties by a healthcare provider and one count of second-degree rape. Three women have filed lawsuits against Dr. Hill or the hospital, which has since switched emergency room operators.
"We had a very unfortunate thing happen in the ER, but it's worth mentioning that we have a huge liability around the legal case that's cost us over $1 million. That didn't help us," Mr. Wolfe said in the Gazette report.
Phase one of the recovery plan is a hiring freeze that will replace contract workers with permanent ones, monitor overtime closely, restructure debt, and finish some capital projects while ending others. Phase two will eliminate redundancies in services offered at other locations nearby, and cut hours in other services. A possible third phase — with no current timeline — would involve layoffs, according to the Gazette.
"We have to stay open; we have to stay viable," Mr. Wolfe said in the report. "We're in a tough spot. "I don't want people to panic; [I'm] trying to be very cautious."