PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center has a projected net income of $1.1 million for the first three months of 2025 and $628,527 in March, according to a report presented Wednesday.
“This is a really impressive statement to the hard work everyone has done,” Chief Financial Officer Lorraine Cannon said during a commissioners’ work session. “I really appreciate it.”
OMC has been facing significant economic challenges related to inadequate government payer reimbursements for care delivery as well as rising costs for labor, drugs and supplies.
In 2024, the hospital reported $450,427 in net revenue in the first quarter but losses of $5.2 million in March.
To stabilize its financial position, it began the process of exploring a potential partnership with another health care organization in December. The board voted in May to move ahead with the next step of negotiating a non-binding agreement with a selected partner sometime this summer.
First-quarter admissions (1,064) and the average daily number of patients receiving care (41.5) increased over 2024 numbers (862 and 35.8, respectively), reflecting a statewide upward trend in those markers.
With OMC planning to site its new boiler in the area currently dedicated to its laundry, it has had to come up with an alternative for cleaning and sanitizing linens, gowns, uniforms and other textiles.
Chief Operating Officer Ryan Combs and Steve Merkel, executive director of service engineering, told the board that they are talking with Renton-based MediCleanse about providing OMC with laundry and linen rental services. At $700,000 per year, the seven-year contract would save OMC $10,000 to $20,000 month in water and electric costs, they said.
Merkel said that by outsourcing its laundry services, OMC would also avoid potential penalties because its facility doesn’t meet Clean Buildings energy efficiency standards; as it stands, the laundry facility need about $2 million in upgrades.
Of the seven OMC employees currently working in laundry services, three would remain and the other four would be offered positions in other parts of the hospital.
OMC’s emergency department is seeing a rising number of incidents involving patients with behavioral issues, particularly children, said case manager Isaac Ballou and emergency room services director Aaron Possin.
To better help vulnerable patients and ensure they remain on site, improvements in key areas are being made to ensure their safety as well as that of staff, visitors and other patients. Those include screening tools to identify pathways for decreasing agitation and anxiety, RFID bands that track patients’ locations in real-time, and the use of burgundy scrubs to identify patients who are at high risk of leaving without authorization.
Commissioners unanimously approved changes and clarification to medical staff policy for written and verbal orders presented by regulatory and quality specialist Rhonda Bowen.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
