PORT ANGELES — An Olympic Medical Center physician was arrested Thursday on investigation of sexual assault, which allegedly occurred while he was working at the hospital’s emergency room.
In coordination with his attorney, Dr. Josiah Hill, 39, of Sequim surrendered himself to the Port Angeles Police Department and was booked into Clallam County Jail, where he was being held Thursday on a $1 million bond.
An arrest warrant had been issued for Hill on Wednesday for three counts of indecent liberties by a health care provider and one count of second-degree rape of a vulnerable victim.
The police department had been investigating Hill since April after an adult female reported being assaulted while receiving treatment at OMC, said Detective Seargeant Kori Malone.
Malone said after the first victim came forward, three more unrelated women made separate reports of sexual assault by Hill while at OMC. Three of the incidents occurred this year, while a fourth — still under investigation — occurred in 2021, Malone said.
“As the investigation was ongoing, additional victims separately and individually came forward and made reports,” Malone said.
OMC spokesperson Bobby Beeman said the hospital was informed of the initial allegation on April 16 and apprised Hill’s employer, Peninsula Emergency Services, Inc., of the case. Following the allegation, hospital officials requested PESI put Hill on administrative leave.
A subsequent contract with PESI ended on June 30, Beeman said, and Hill is not practicing at OMC.
“OMC has fully cooperated with law enforcement on all allegations against Dr. Hill,” Beeman said.
According to court documents, multiple women reported that Hill had made inappropriate comments before touching their breasts. In another report, a woman said she was taken to OMC by police, and when she awoke, she was being sexually assaulted by a male doctor.
One woman reported that, after sexually assaulting her, Hill had asked her on a date even after she had commented on his wedding ring.
“(The victim) recalls Hill making various comments on how much he loves breast implants and how he had gone to school for them,” Detective Erik Smith wrote in the probable cause statement.
Law enforcement obtained video surveillance footage of the emergency department, which corroborated the victims’ description of events, documents said.
Court documents show the first incident was reported to PAPD in March, and another incident that occurred on April 16 was reported to an OMC nurse, who informed her supervisor.
Hill had been providing emergency medicine in OMC’s emergency department since July 2020, Beeman said.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at psegall@soundpublishing.com.
