PORT ANGELES — A man once asked a sage how life had been before the master became enlightened.
The answer: “Chop wood, carry water.”
And after enlightenment?
“Chop wood, carry water,” answered the sage.
Eric Lewis, CEO of Olympic Medical Center, had much the same message concerning the hospital before and after voters approved its levy lid lift on Aug. 19:
“Cost management and improved efficiency is really going to be the key,” he told Peninsula Daily News.
“It’s going to be a lot of hard work to remain viable.”
Hospital District No. 2 will begin collecting 44 cents per $1,000 of real property’s assessed valuation Jan. 1. Taxpayers who don’t have taxes deposited in escrow will receive their first tax bills that list the new levy April 1.
The rate is a 300 percent boost over the former 11-cent amount.
