PORT ANGELES — Eric Lewis, CEO of Olympic Medical Center, brings “sincerity and decency” to the work of building a better health care system, the Washington State Hospital Association said of its 2018 award winner.
The state hospital board’s incoming chairman, Bob Malte, presented Lewis with glowing words and a statewide accolade Oct. 12.
Previous recipients selected Lewis for the Joe Hopkins Memorial Award, which acknowledges an individual who shares the late Joe Hopkins’ vision and dedication to Washington’s rural hospitals.
“It’s a big honor. I greatly appreciate the recognition,” Lewis said. “It’s humbling. I didn’t think I would win. I was very surprised.”
Donna Davison, administrative director of risk management at OMC, said she knew Hopkins, as well as previous recipients of this award.
“Reminiscing about Joe, I think about the immense respect his peers had for him,” Davison recalled. “He led with integrity and deeply supported those around him. He was a state leader in the work to ensure and strengthen systems for rural health care.
“Joe’s efforts had reached the lives of so many that at the time of his death, WSHA knew they wanted to memorialize the intent and character of his spirit,” she continued. “It’s so fitting that this award be given to Eric, who, too, represents the best of the best.”
Earlier in the day, the Washington State Hospital Association also voted to elect Lewis as the 2018-19 chair. He will assume that role in October 2018.
Malte said of his future successor: “Eric Lewis exemplifies the best traits of our profession. These are very tough financial times for many WSHA members, especially our rural members. In a health care environment that continues to be unpredictable, our awardee has managed to protect employees by reducing costs in other areas. He has maintained one of the lowest costs for services to patients in the state of Washington.”
Lewis chalks its cost structure up to a team effort among the board of commissioners and the whole organization, he said.
In the coming year, Lewis said the hospital will aim to obtain a 3 percent margin in its operating budget to first pay the principal on its debt and then make capital investments.
Challenges to that plan include labor shortages and a 2 percent to 3 percent increase in drug prices, he said.
“That is an ambitious plan, but I think it’s what we need for our patients and our community,” Lewis told hospital commissioners during a Wednesday meeting.
In addition, Lewis said the hospital’s “big goal” is to expand primary care access to those who do not currently see other community physicians — an aspect of its 2018-20 strategic plan Lewis touched on during Wednesday’s meeting.
“I think the big focus, the No. 1 we received the most feedback on, was primary care access,” Lewis said. “We’re going to be working with Jamestown and North Olympic Healthcare Network to provide the primary care access this community needs.
“When you see our budget in 2020, you’re going to see millions of dollars invested in this area.”
To that end, Lewis told the commissioners the hospital will recruit and hire more physicians, focus on retention and redesign primary care in 2018.
That redesign will entail a shift to “team-based care,” surrounding physicians with mental health professionals, advanced practice clinicians, registered nurses and medical assistants, and sharing documentation between those medical professionals.
Team-based care will allow physicians to save time and ultimately see more patients, thereby making hiring physicians financially viable on a rural hospital budget, Lewis said.
“If we expand access and patients can get the care they need, then the finances will be balanced,” he said.
Lewis’ “many investments in his workforce” represent one of the reasons he was selected as the 2018 Joe Hopkins Award winner, according to a press release.
“He deeply understands that the hospital is both a care provider and an economic anchor,” Malte said. “He is a steward of both his institution and the community.”
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Reporter Sarah Sharp can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at ssharp@peninsula dailynews.com.
