The Olympic Medical Center leadership should consider an affiliation with, not ownership by, the University of Washington hospitals.
This non-profit research and teaching institution has no religious affiliation.
Our community would not have to fear changes in how OMC/OMP providers conduct women’s reproductive care or that their ability to prescribe medications to allow Washingtonians with a terminal disease, “death with dignity,” would be taken away.
OMC would benefit by remaining an independent public hospital, which would preserve its ability to recruit providers by offering the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
It would continue to be eligible to receive safety net funds for distressed rural hospitals.
UW also could provide best scheduling practices so that OMC can catch up with its 1,000 MRI exam backlog, and so that more surgeries can occur and more clinic appointments can be made with guaranteed same-day appointments for all providers.
UW should be offered free clinic space for its specialists to come here to conduct outpatient clinics.
Nephrologists, neurologists, rheumatologists, endocrinologists, neurologic and spine surgery specialists could all come on a rotating basis.
Teaching hospitals need rural areas to help train their residents. OMC/OMP could be one of those sites.
UW should be the first hospital we call when we need to transfer someone to a higher level of care.
This would help UW’s bottom line.
Put a big UW sign up on those clinics, and confidence in the care received here will improve.
Dr. Nancy Ahlstrom Stephanz
Port Angeles