PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Medical Center board of directors has unanimously approved a 3 percent raise for Chief Executive Officer Darryl Wolfe that will increase his compensation to $283,250 a year.
An annual incentive plan of 15 percent on his base salary for meeting certain targets and a $450 monthly car allowance remained the same. The new compensation package voted on at their Dec. 6 meeting that was held virtually for the public and went into effect Dec. 10.
“Darryl’s evaluation was a good evaluation and I think the board is very supportive of Darryl’s leadership role and his abilities in his job,” Commissioner Thom Hightower said. “We need to keep in mind that all employees in the hospital received pay raises this year.”
From August 2020, when he was elevated from interim to permanent CEO, to May 2022, Wolfe received $212,417.92 a year and from May 29, 2022, to Dec. 9, 2023, he received $275,000 a year.
The Jefferson Healthcare board of commissioners in January raised CEO Mike Glenn’s annual salary from $300,000 to $350,000, a 17 percent increase.
Meanwhile, Port Angeles Fire Department Chief Derrell Sharp presented an update to commissioners on the Port Angeles Community Paramedicine program established in 2019 that links patients with follow-up care and services.
“The major goals of the community paramedic program have been to increase the health and wellness of our community through three primary objectives,” Sharp said.
“The first is a reduction in emergency room over-utilization for non-emergency services. The second is to guide patients to appropriate community health resources for non-acute healthcare needs, and the third is to reduce over-utilization of the 911 system for non-emergency medical services.”
OMC’s commitment of $25,000 a year for four years, as well as funding from the North Olympic Healthcare Network, Peninsula Behavioral Health and the Clallam County Health Department, have kept the program going, Sharp said.
Clallam County commissioners at their Nov. 28 meeting approved $351,871.24 in funding for 2024 and 2025, as well.
Since the program began, Sharp said, it has served a growing number of patients and made a significant financial impact on the department by reducing the number of advanced and non-emergency transports. In 2021, the program saved an estimated $181,132 and in 2022 and it saved an estimated $382,274, he said.
Sharp said the opioid crisis in Port Angeles highlighted the need for the kind of service the community paramedicine program provided.
“Care for this population lies in the need to establish a rapport and trust and instill confidence in patients living with mental illness and substance use disorder,” Sharp said. “Community paramedics meet that need in the field and are not time-constrained by the next 911 call.”
Hightower said the program’s statistics were impressive, but what stood out to him was the teamwork and commitment shown by different providers in working together in tackling a intransigent health and social challenge.
“It takes a community to address community issues,” Hightower said. “This is a whole group of people that’s helping address this issue that’s not going away any time soon.”
The board also unanimously approved a three-year agreement with workers represented by the UFCW 3000, which includes diagnostic technicians and physical and occupational therapists.
Among other terms, the contract guarantees across-the-board wage increases of 7 percent the first year and 6 percent in the second and third years. Support service workers represented by the UFCW 3000 are still bargaining with OMC.
________
Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
