The North Olympic Peninsula’s three hospitals have pledged to work together to recruit physicians and bring more medical services to the area.
The cooperative agreement was signed by the Olympic Medical Center Board of Commissioners on May 20 and the Forks Community Hospital Board of Commissioners on April 28.
Jefferson Healthcare hospital Chief Executive Officer Vic Dirksen said the hospital’s elected representatives have given him the authority to accept or reject the agreement.
Dirksen said Tuesday he would accept the agreement as soon as it came to his desk.
“By joining together and taking a look at collaboration and cooperation, we are better able to make a fuller range of services available on the Peninsula,” he said.
The CEOs of the hospitals said the agreement — which will allow them to share physicians — will allow them to expand medical services such as oncology and orthopedics — and therefore the range of care on the Peninsula.
“If we all needed a certain service, rather than all of us negotiating a separate contract . . . together we can negotiate one contract and probably get a lower price,” said Eric Lewis, CEO of OMC, which has facilities in Port Angeles and Sequim.
Said Forks Community Hospital CEO Camille Scott: “It allows us to be a lot more flexible in care and keeping care local on the Peninsula.”
Lewis said the agreement is partially in response to increasing Medicare and Medicaid costs. By working together, he said, the hospitals can offset those costs.
Scott said that under the agreement, ideally a physician from Olympic Medical Center could travel to Forks and treat patients there, rather than the patients traveling to OMC.
“It’s a long way to ride in a car when you are feeling lousy,” she said.
But Scott said the agreement doesn’t force any physicians to take on more patients.
“We have to talk with physicians, and they may not want to do it,” she said. “They may be so busy that they can’t do it.”
But the expanded scope of work would be part of the criteria for hiring new physicians, Scott said.
Emergency planning
Lewis said the agreement also calls for more cooperation when preparing for emergencies.
“If we plan regionally, it becomes a much more efficient process,” he said. “We avoid duplication and avoid inefficiencies.”
The first step, after the agreement is approved by all three hospitals, will be for the three CEOs to complete a work plan and sort out the details of putting the agreement into practice.
Lewis said the three CEOs will meet first in June, and the three boards also will meet during the summer.
“Certainly, this year we hope to complete some projects together,” he said.
According to the agreement approved unanimously by the OMC board, the CEOs will meet at least quarterly, and the boards will meet at least annually.
Lewis said such agreements may become more common around the state and nation in the coming years.
“They’re not very common, but I think it’s going to be a growing trend because health care reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid is so tight,” he said.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
