PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center’s governing board has approved a 5 percent pay raise for Chief Executive Officer Eric Lewis.
The seven commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to authorize the raise.
Lewis, who earns $193,600 per year, will collect a $203,278 salary beginning next week.
“Our CEO is the lowest-paid CEO around, and we need to increase his salary to be at least close to being competitive with the rest of the field,” said Jim Leskinovitch, board chairman.
“So it’s long overdue, and he certainly highly, highly deserves every bit of this pay raise.”
Commissioner Jim Cammack, who serves on OMC’s Human Resource committee, agreed.
“This is a very low compensation, even though we’re working at trying to catch him up with other hospitals,” Cammack said.
“The HR committee recommends this.”
Lewis was promoted from chief financial officer to CEO in December 2006. He earned $160,000 per year until the board raised his pay by 10 percent in 2012 and again in 2013.
With the latest raise, Lewis will still earn less than nearly all of his counterparts on the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island despite OMC’s larger budget and unique fiscal challenges.
Chief Human Resources Officer Richard Newman compiled the following list of CEO compensation of area hospitals as of December 2013 using data from Gallagher Surveys, Milliman and the state Department of Health:
■ OMC (78 beds, $146 million revenue): $193,600.
■ Jefferson Healthcare (25 beds, $73 million revenue): $236,775.
■ Forks Community Hospital (25 beds, $23 million revenue): $176,010.
■ Grays Harbor Community Hospital (104 beds, $104 million revenue): $257,689.
■ Whidbey General Hospital (25 beds, $88 million revenue): $232,156.
■ Island Hospital (43 beds, $87 million revenue): $350,096.
■ Mason General Hospital (25 beds, $86 million revenue): $246,936.
Unlike 25-bed critical access hospitals that enjoy full government reimbursement, OMC receives a fraction of what it costs to treat its Medicare and Medicaid patients, who account for about 80 percent of the payor mix.
Lewis lobbied for state legislation that increased OMC’s Medicaid reimbursement for outpatient services from 55 percent of cost to 70 percent of cost.
In recent years, Lewis helped shepherd OMC’s conversion from paper to electronic medical records and championed its affiliation with Swedish Medical Center.
Lewis also will have a $350 monthly car allowance and a $50-per-month cellphone stipend under the terms of his new contract.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
