PORT ANGELES — An out-of-town obstetrician/gynecologist will step in for two months at Peninsula Women’s Clinic until a full-time OB/GYN joins the staff of Olympic Medical Center in February.
The departure of Dr. Robert H. Palmer for Port Townsend on Dec. 1 otherwise would create a “community crisis,” said Eric Lewis, the medical center’s chief financial officer, by cutting the number of obstetricians in Port Angeles by a third.
Palmer has delivered about 60 babies annually while working out of the clinic at 909 Caroline St., Port Angeles.
Two nurse-practitioner/certified nurse-midwives deliver about an additional 120 infants annually.
Dr. Roger Biehl of Idaho will be the locum tenens, or substitute doctor, during December and January. The medical center located him through a temporary employment agency for physicians.
The nurse/midwives will continue to practice, and all activities at the clinic will proceed as usual, Lewis said.
Dr. Randell Bauman of Minnesota, an OB/GYN for 20 years, will take over the clinic about Feb. 1.
Nurse-practitioners Debbi Bopp and Mary Roon, the nurse/midwives, will become medical center employees at that time, as will other clinic workers.
