Olympic Medical Center came within a week of running out of cash under former CEO Darryl Wolfe — a fact buried in a state audit but never shared with the public, disclosed by the commissioners, or even reported by the local press. Now, OMC has turned to interim CEO Mark Gregson, whose career includes a troubling trail of hospital closures from California to North Carolina. Staff emails raise alarm over his past ties to Quorum Health, a private equity chain accused of draining rural hospitals for profit. When leadership hides near-collapse, when watchdogs fall silent, and when officials celebrate failure as “leadership,” trust is shattered. The question isn’t just whether OMC can survive — it’s whether the community can afford to be kept in the dark any longer.
Did you know that under former CEO Darryl Wolfe’s leadership, Olympic Medical Center got down to just five days of cash on hand?
That’s not rumor. That’s not speculation. It’s documented in the Washington State Auditor’s May 5, 2025 report.
The findings were stark:
59 days of cash at the end of fiscal year 2021
32 days at the end of 2022
5 days at the end of 2023
The same report noted operating losses of $17.7 million in 2022 and $27.9 million in 2023.
Yet the public never heard a word from executive leadership. Not from Wolfe. Not from the hospital commissioners we elect. Not even from the Peninsula Daily News, which failed to mention it at all — the week the report came out, they published a glowing weekend piece praising OMC for “improving cash reserves.”
No mention of the five-day cliff. No alarm bells. No front-page story. Just silence.
Why?
Draw your own conclusions. But OMC is one of the PDN’s biggest advertisers. And when a public hospital you already fund is paying for ads in the local paper, what exactly are you buying? Information, or protection?
A hospital on the brink — and a community left in the dark
OMC’s PR team has insisted: “There is no secret agenda we are trying to hide from our patients or community members.”
But the reality is simple: if the public hospital you fund was less than a week away from running out of money, and you weren’t told — something is wrong.
Worse, the board of commissioners recently honored Wolfe with a resolution for his “leadership and contributions.” Leadership? The man who presided over the near-collapse, while asking taxpayers to double the levy rate to “save” the hospital, is celebrated on his way out the door.
The new CEO question
Now OMC has brought in interim CEO Mark Gregson through executive search firm WittKieffer, at a rate of $12,500 per week plus lodging and travel.
Gregson’s resume is long. But so is the trail of closures behind him.
Santa Paula Memorial Hospital — California
Once a community hospital in Ventura County, closed in 2003 after declaring bankruptcy under Gregson’s leadership.
Nicknamed the “Hospital on the Hill,” it was sold to Catholic Healthcare West for pennies on the dollar, leaving the community without emergency care for years.
📧 From a staff email circulating at OMC:
“Santa Paula closed while Mark was CEO. The community was devastated. Services never came back the same. We can’t afford that to happen here.”
Mesa General Hospital — Arizona
Shuttered in 2007 after ongoing financial struggles, was demolished, and is being redeveloped as a high-end apartment complex.
Its closure left one of Arizona’s fastest-growing regions without a local ER.
📧 From the same staff thread:
“Mesa was supposed to be turned around under Gregson. Instead, the doors closed. These are not just coincidences.”
Bay Area Medical Center (McLaren) — Michigan
Financially distressed, merged and then closed units after Gregson’s tenure.
NorthReach Healthcare — Michigan
Collapsed under debt, assets sold off.
Blue Mountain Health System — Pennsylvania
Sold to St. Luke’s University Health Network in 2018 after years of losses.
Puget Sound Hospital — Washington
A small facility that ended up being demolished after failing to recover financially.
Cape Fear Hospital — North Carolina
Acquired, then stripped down and shut.
That’s a long list of closures, empty parking lots, abandoned hallways, “For Sale” signs, demolitions, and redevelopment where ERs used to be.
That is the track record OMC is now tied to.
The Quorum Health connection
Some of the staff emails also point to Gregson’s time with Quorum Health, a private equity-backed hospital chain notorious for bleeding rural hospitals dry.
📧 One employee wrote:
“Quorum’s model is cut, sell, and walk away. They’ve been investigated by Congress. The concern is Gregson will bring that mindset here.”
In fact, Congress just released a bipartisan report: “Profits Over Patients: The Harmful Effects of Private Equity on the U.S. Healthcare System.” The conclusion? Many rural hospitals aren’t failing naturally — they’re being deliberately squeezed for short-term gain.
And here’s the kicker: OMC itself reportedly considered Quorum during its quiet “Project Driftwood” merger talks.
“I am 99.99% certain that the cursory 30 min "interview" at the public board meeting was all the vetting that happened. Why such a rush to bring this guy in? His history is checkered. Who the hell vetted this guy for our community? Obviously, Witt Kieifer has a conflict. It was rubber stamped through despite the overwhelming objection of the med staff, employees, and public. Do the board really have their heads up their asses? WTF.” — OMC employee email
“I saw his resume and it is amazing how many of the hospitals he 'saved' are no longer in existence anymore. Nuts. Board asleep at the wheel as usual?” — OMC employee email
Why scrutiny matters
This isn’t about tearing apart OMC’s reputation. We need a strong hospital, especially in a rural county. But when leadership hides financial crises, when the local press won’t report the truth, and when our elected commissioners rubber-stamp decisions without serious scrutiny — the public loses trust.
That’s why every decision deserves transparency, sunlight, and tough questions. Not blind faith. Not PR spin.
So today, OMC may not be a sinking ship. But if we’ve learned anything from the Wolfe years, it’s this: the ship sinks when the crew hides the leaks.
The community deserves the truth. The hospital is ours. And the people paying for it — patients, taxpayers, families — must never be left in the dark again.
To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you for the stickers. I was planning to put one on my laptop, but I may hold onto it instead—just in case I need a makeshift butterfly bandage while performing DIY surgery if our rural hospital closes and is demolished. Either way, it’s good to know they’ll come in handy.
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