PORT ANGELES — A trial date of April 10 has been set for former Olympic Medical Center emergency room doctor Josiah Hill.
A status hearing has been set for Dec. 9, at which time the prosecution expects to have the results of additional investigation and evidence to enter into the record, Michele Devlin, chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, said Wednesday.
Hill, 39, has been charged with what is now six counts of indecent liberties by a healthcare provider and one count of rape in the second degree.
The latest charge, the sixth indecent liberties charge, was entered into the record on Wednesday during the trial-setting hearing.
Hill has pleaded not guilty to all the charges filed against him and has waived his right to a speedy trial to allow for his lawyer and the prosecution time to prepare.
Devlin told Clallam County Superior Judge Simon Barnhart that she anticipates a significant amount of discovery to come forward between now and the trial, with the possibility of it being entered into the record during the status hearing.
The recent charge of indecent liberties was brought forward by a woman who also has filed a civil suit against Olympic Medical Center and its former emergency service provider, Peninsula Emergency Services, Inc.
PESI, which was formed to provide OMC emergency physicians and which dissolved at the end of June after OMC did not renew its contract, has responded to the suit through its attorney Jennifer Moore with Bennet, Bigelow and Leedom.
“Defendant PESI is without knowledge or information to form a belief as to the truth or falsity of the allegations contained in this paragraph of the Plaintiff’s complaint and thus Defendant PESI denies the same for lack of knowledge,” reads almost every sentence of the response.
A probable cause statement from July 8 says the woman had gone to the emergency room at OMC twice with severe COVID-19 symptoms in May 2021 and on both occasions was treated by Hill.
The woman told detectives that she slept a lot upon the first visit to OMC and did not recall much, but during her second visit, she recalled Hill touching her breasts while applying monitor pads and also forcing her to touch him while he administered her IV.
Medical records from her visit to OMC said a registered nurse gave her the IV, not Hill.
She also recalled Hill giving her Seroquel, an anti-psychotic drug typically used to treat schizophrenia; this was particularly concerning to her as she said she had accidentally been given the psych med 20 years ago and had a seizure as a result.
When she asked Hill why he gave it to her, he said it was to help her sleep, to which she indicated that she did not need help sleeping, she said.
The woman told the investigator that she had a history of drug use and that medical staff at OMC, including Hill, were aware of it.
Medical records of the woman show that Hill had ordered several medications for her, but Seroquel was not one of them.
According to the probable cause statement, detectives worked with OMC security to recover video footage from the woman’s visit to corroborate her statements but found that there was no video available that far back.
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Reporter Ken Park can be reached by email at kpark@peninsuladailynews.com.
