PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center has received a $250,000 gift that will help pay for an expanded cancer center in Sequim and equipment for other departments.
Olympic Medical Center Foundation officials presented the donation to OMC commissioners Wednesday.
The nonprofit foundation has raised more than $1 million for the hospital district in the last 15 months, including $701,000 dedicated to the Sequim Cancer Center expansion.
“We pledged a little over a year ago that we would try and raise $1 million for the Sequim Cancer Center,” Foundation President Duane Wolfe told the board.
“We really feel that now we’re going to make it, if we can continue with the generosity and the giving of the people in this community.”
OMC officials plan to break ground later this year on a $7.9 million expansion of the cancer center at 844 N. Fifth Ave.
“Our goal is to hit $1 million, and our goal is to do it by the end of October,” OMC Foundation Executive Director Bruce Skinner told commissioners and OMC staff.
“You’ll be breaking ground, and you’ll be in need of that additional $300,000. So it’s our goal to do that.”
Hospital officials have said visits at the Sequim Cancer Center have grown by 157 percent in the last decade and that more growth is expected.
According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the number of new cancer cases in the U.S. will rise by 45 percent by 2030.
The expansion will allow OMC to treat more patients and add services, officials said.
“The current plan is to break ground on the cancer center expansion this year, so we’re moving fast,” OMC Chief Executive Officer Eric Lewis said after thanking foundation officials.
“Your contributions are making all the difference.”
All seven board members were dressed in red colors for the meeting, a nod to the foundation’s Red, Set, Go! campaign for heart health.
The $250,000 gift to OMC was the largest in the history of the foundation.
It breaks down as follows:
• $198,814 for the Sequim Cancer Center expansion.
• $21,102 for cardiac equipment.
• $30,084 to purchase equipment for pediatrics, intensive care, diagnostic imaging, emergency room and obstetrics.
“We have a strategic plan, and it really calls for us to stay locally-owned and operated and to expand our services to meet the community’s needs and to have an engaged workforce,” Lewis said.
“This (donation) is a big shot in the arm to help us achieve these goals.
“It really helps our patients at the cancer center, the heart center and other departments,” Lewis added.
“It helps our employees. They feel really supported and this helps them have the tools for their job. And it really helps our community.”
Sequim Mayor Dennis Smith thanked hospital officials for the Sequim Cancer Center expansion.
“As everyone knows, the demographics of Sequim are such that it’s very important to get as much medical care as we can to the retirees that live in that area and prevent them from having to make that trip to Seattle to get the treatment,” Smith said.
Smith added that the cancer center draws non-Sequim residents who support local businesses.
“We appreciate that as well,” he said.
Port Angeles Mayor Sissi Bruch discussed the growth of OMC, which has a 66-year history in the city and now employs more than 1,400 jobs.
“Cancer has surpassed now heart disease as the leading cause of death here for Clallam County, so we are absolutely grateful for this,” Bruch said of the donation.
“Anything you guys need, we’re happy to work with you.”
Also introduced at the ceremony were Port of Port Angeles Commissioner Colleen McAleer, First Federal Executive Vice President/Chief Operations Officer Jeff Davis, Sound Community Bank Olympic Peninsula Business Development Officer Julie Hatch, Albert Haller Foundation Board President Gary Smith and a representative of the Ben and Myrtle Walkling Memorial Trust.
“There are a number of foundations that have contributed to the project, and I felt very strongly that they really need recognition because they’ve been doing this for years,” Skinner said.
For information on the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, visit www.omhf.org.
To make a donation, phone the foundation office at 360-417-7144 or email Skinner at bruce@omhf.org.
“We hope that many local people will become a part of this fundraising effort,” Skinner said in a news release.
“It’s an opportunity for people to leave a lasting legacy, and 100 percent of the monies raised will go towards the project. There are also naming rights opportunities.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
