Олимпийский медицинский центр Портленда устраняет задержки записи и рассматривает повышение налога на имущество

Olympic Medical Center working to fix appointment delays Published 1:30 am Friday, September 4, 2026 PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center staff are working to get patients in the door faster by rebuilding the appointment framework it set up when it adopted an electronic health record system more than 10 years ago. Taylla Sales, a manager in the quality support services department, said during the hospital commissioners’ meeting Wednesday that the appointment templates OMC built when it modified its Epic electronic software system in 2013 are “the root cause for a lot of these things,” from scheduling problems to staff having to track some data by hand. She said staff have identified some short-term fixes, chiefly better communication between the call center and clinics so patients can be booked for an appointment on their first call. The goal of a two-day work session in late September is to map out solutions to replace OMC’s appointment templates with standard ones that will remedy the scheduling delays and patient experience. Financial loss OMC lost about $1 million in July, controller and treasury manager Amanda Christensen said. Setting aside costs like depreciation, the hospital came out slightly ahead on its basic operations, although that margin shrank to 0.8 percent from 5.5 percent in June. Christensen said the month was “not as strong as June,” but nonetheless, OMC is “still trending in a positive direction financially.” The hospital’s days of cash on hand fell to 22 from 30, which Christensen said was not the result of higher expenses but of paying down about $2.7 million of its accounts payable balance, which now stands at $20.4 million. OMC is seeking money from the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program, which is distributing funds through the Washington State Hospital Association, interim CEO Mark Gregson said. The program has about $768,000 available for a first project — likely a new nurse call system — and is preparing applications for computer system upgrades and women’s health services. It is separately expecting a $1 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant for technology infrastructure, Gregson said. UW Medicine talks Meanwhile, a committee of board president Phil Giuntoli and commissioners Nancy Field and Penney Sanders are representing the hospital’s interests in the talks with UW Medicine. Giuntoli said they are reviewing a proposal from the healthcare system and preparing a response. He said the group is being advised by staff and OMC attorneys Davis Wright Tremaine and consultants from Juniper Advisory Group. Property tax levy The consent agenda approved by the board included minutes from the finance’s committee’s July 27 meeting at which members Giuntoli, Sanders and Gerald Stephanz voted to recommend that the board pursue a 1 percent increase in its property tax levy. OMC’s 2026 rate is $0.730218 per $1,000 of assessed property value. At that rate, the owner of a property assessed at $300,000 pays about $219.07 a year; at $500,000, about $365.11; and at $1 million, about $730.22. A 1 percent increase would raise the rate to $0.737520 per $1,000 — about $0.0073 more per $1,000. That adds about $2.19 a year for a property assessed at $300,000, $3.65 for one worth $500,000 and $7.30 for one worth $1 million. CEO search Also Wednesday, Giuntoli updated the board on status of hiring a permanent CEO, saying the search firm WittKieffer is preparing a list of candidates. Dr. Alan Chen, OMC’s former chief physician officer who resigned at the end of May, has not applied, he said, but the board contacted his references in anticipation of a community petition that would be submitted on his behalf. That petition was presented to the board during public comment by Bob and Sharon Litwin, who gathered signatures from more than 350 community members, including OMC employees, asking the board to consider Chen for the job. Giuntoli emphasized the board could only consider those who have put their names forward — and Chen had not. “If he’s not a candidate, he’s not a candidate,” Giuntoli said. Although he was not among the three candidates WittKieffer identified, Chen previously was interviewed by the board after pressure from OMC staff, providers and community members. The board ultimately chose Gregson as interim CEO. Sharon Litwin encouraged the board not to rule out Chen. “My suggestion to the board is always keep an open door,” Sharon Litwin said, noting he still owns a home in the area. ________ Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at [email protected].