PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center commissioners will update the chief executive officer’s job description before finding a successor for Eric Lewis.
Lewis, who has served as OMC’s chief executive since 2006, announced in January that he will retire effective May 1.
“Recently, board members were requested to provide input as to the attributes they desired in a candidate,” said OMC Commissioner Tom Oblak, chair of the Human Resource Committee, in a Wednesday meeting at the Port Angeles hospital.
“Based on that information, the chief executive position description has been revised and once approved, the board will be able to then set a salary range for the candidates.”
The board is expected to approve a revised CEO’s job description at its next meeting March 4.
OMC commissioners also voted 7-0 Tuesday to increase the CEO’s salary by 3 percent to $241,113.
Chief Human Resource Officer Jennifer Burkhardt said the action was necessary because Lewis did not receive a scheduled raise last October.
“Although the intent was to address it in October 2019, OMC did not do so due to an administrative oversight,” Burkhardt said in a Thursday email.
“The board determined that it would be fair to make the adjustment of 3 percent at this time prospectively. The increase was based on market data and the board simply felt it was the right and fair thing to do.”
Burkhardt told commissioners that the proposed updates to the job description “call out some of the major duties and responsibilities that have evolved since the last time that this job description was updated approximately a decade ago.”
OMC Chief Operating Officer Darryl Wolfe was named interim CEO shortly after Lewis’s retirement announcement.
Wolfe agreed to take on the interim role as OMC looks to replace Lewis in a process that was expected to take four to six months.
“We also have a CFO (chief financial officer) position open as well,” Oblak said.
“I was informed that candidates will arrive early in March so a final determination can be made to fill that position.”
In other board action, commissioners approved a five-year contract extension with Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
OMC will pay $89,930 per year for access to SCCA’s technical and clinical support, education and training, said Dr. Scott Kennedy, OMC chief medical and safety officer.
SCCA is a not-for-profit cancer treatment and research center that partners with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital and UW Medicine, Kennedy said.
OMC first affiliated with SCCA in 2003.
“I think it’s a wonderful affiliation with a great organization,” OMC Board Chairman Jim Leskinovitch said.
“It really helps our cancer center be able to provide the most up-to-date, modern services for patients.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
