PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center hopes to buy an 8-year-old office building near the hospital to house its home health care operations.
Hospital commissioners Wednesday authorized OMC CEO Eric Lewis to enter a bid not to exceed $525,000 for the single-story structure housing five office suites at 801 E. Front St.
The deadline for the deal is today.
The 8,700-square-foot building, which is in receivership for bankruptcy, was built in 2007 but never had full occupancy.
It once housed Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza, the medical offices of the late Dr. J.J. “Jack” Fairshter and the Wizard of Fraud certified public accountant’s office.
Lewis said the building would be “perfect” for Olympic Home Health and its support services that currently occupy two buildings in Port Angeles — one of which is slated for demolition to make way for OMC’s new medical office building.
As for that 39,000-square-foot, two-story building that is estimated to cost $18.2 million, final drawings will be ready for commissioners to review in May, Lewis told commissioners.
About half the construction money for the medical office building will be spent this year starting in the spring, with the remainder scheduled for 2016, he said.
“This is really the most cost-effective method to meet our space needs over the next 10 years,” Lewis said.
Building details
The medical office building will include a walk-in clinic, reflecting a shift of $9 million from an emergency department expansion that currently is under construction at the main hospital building.
Eight buildings that house clinics and other OMC operations in the block between Caroline and Georgiana streets across from OMC will be razed for the new structure.
“It’s long overdue,” said Commissioner Jim Leskinovitch.
“We can’t get doctors here. We can’t provide the office space they all want and need.”
In other OMC matters Wednesday, commissioners heard that a “Rapid Turnaround Service” getting a three-month trial at the emergency department is proving popular with providers and patients.
However, Lorrraine Wall, RN, chief nursing officer, said the RTS is not a walk-in clinic, as some visitors have thought, but is a triage unit to separate minor ailments from major emergencies and treat the former cases more quickly.
The unit is serving an average of 18 patients per day, Wall said, “decongesting the waiting room.”
Otherwise, patients with minor illnesses and injuries “would be in our wait room for hours at a time. What we’re able to do with this program is get more people through the system.”
Another possibility to improve OMC efficiency is a discharge lounge for patients who are awaiting only prescriptions or rides home, Wall said.
Other action
Other commissioners’ action Wednesday included:
■ Approving a $683,376 annual contract with Sheridan Healthcare of Washington to provide anesthesiologist and related nursing services. Sheridan will employ OMC’s present five anesthesiologists and two nurses, and provide expanded services for endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopies, plus new anesthesia-block training.
The contract will run for three years, “but we intend for this to be a long-term relationship,” said Dr. Scott Kennedy, OMC’s chief medical officer. The company also will fill short-term staff shortages.
■ Awarding a $105,080 contract to Strait Flooring of Sequim for a four-month-long replacement of carpeting on the hospital’s second floor with hard rubber that will be both quieter and more germ-free.
The flooring is expected to last 20 years, Lewis said.
■ Approving $25,000 signing bonuses and $5,000 moving allowances to recruit two obstetrician/gynecologists to the Jamestown Family Health Clinic.
■ Approving a $95,431 part-time contract with Dr. Mark Rosengren, a family practitioner. “All of our primary care physicians are taking new patients right now,” Kennedy said, adding that OMC added 2,000 patients in 2014.
■ Buying new sleep-medicine software for OMC’s Sleep Center in Sequim for $109,057.
■ Passing a resolution supporting the 12-cent-per-$1,000 maintenance-and-operations levy for the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center.
Commissioners John Beitzel, Jim Cammack, Jean Hordyk, Leskinovitch, John Miles and John Nutter for the resolution. Commissioner Tom Oblak abstained, saying he had been a SARC member.
■ Accepting an award as Employer of the Month from the Clallam County Department of Health and Human Services for OMC’s employing people with developmental disabilities.
■ Learning that the hospital had received its 15th straight “clean” state audit.
________
Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com
