Listen now | Widespread departures across the county’s largest employer as financial warnings, staffing shortages, and service concerns continue to grow
Dear CC Watchdog Editor, I request a correction and a follow-up glowing article about the WestEnd to counteract this cultural bias. On your podcast, you assumed OMC was #1 PHD. This is an example of why the WestEND feels underrepresented and perpetuates the assumption that PA and Sequim are the number 1s.
Forks Community Hospital, aka Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 1, was the first public hospital district established in the state of Washington next to King County:
Washington State’s public hospital districts (PHDs) were born out of a critical need to sustain healthcare access in rural and expanding communities, a movement heavily championed by early providers right on the Olympic Peninsula.
Here is the timeline of how that statutory framework was built and how Forks Community Hospital led the charge:
1929: First Hospital Built in Forks
Dr. Ulrick S. Ford builds the original hospital in Forks. His dedication to sustaining rural healthcare on the West End eventually becomes a driving force behind the statewide push for formalized hospital district legislation.
1945: Statutory Authority Established
The Washington State Legislature adopts RCW 70.44. This landmark legislation formally grants local communities the governmental authority to create public hospital districts, allowing them to deliver health services and levy taxes to support community-owned care.
1947: The First Districts Formed
The Washington Hospital District law is fully realized. Both Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 1 (Forks Community Hospital) and King County Public Hospital District No. 1 (Valley Medical Center in Renton) are established this year. Because PHDs are numbered by their respective counties, both entities historically lay claim to being the very first public hospital district formed in the state.
1952: Statewide Advocacy Unified
The Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts (AWPHD) is established to serve as the unified voice for these newly formed governmental entities, ensuring rural and community-owned healthcare facilities have dedicated representation at the state level.
Because public hospital districts are formed at the county level, you will see multiple "District No. 1" designations across the state today. However, Clallam and King counties were the true pioneers in utilizing this governance model to permanently secure their communities' healthcare infrastructure.
While Forks (District No. 1) was the legislative spark and the state's first hospital district, Olympic Medical Center (OMC), or Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 2, followed closely behind as a response to the rapid post-war growth of Port Angeles and the eastern Olympic Peninsula.
The Formation of District No. 2
1948 – The Legal Founding: Following the success of Dr. Ford’s 1945 legislation and the creation of the Forks district in 1947, community leaders in Port Angeles moved to organize their own special purpose district. The government entity for Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 2 was officially founded on September 15, 1948.
1951 – Opening Olympic Memorial: After three years of planning and construction to address the post-WWII healthcare shortage, the district opened Olympic Memorial Hospital on November 1, 1951. It launched with approximately 80 employees to serve an area that had previously been underserved and geographically isolated.
2000 – Rebranding to OMC: In March 2000, the facility was officially renamed Olympic Medical Center to reflect its evolution from a single rural hospital into a comprehensive regional medical system with facilities in both Port Angeles and Sequim.
I heard about that... I barely remember living in Forks. My parents owned the Hoh river resort store and cabins for many years. It's all torn down now.
Olympic Memorial Founding: In 1951, Dr. Jacob Fairshter was honored as one of the original founding physicians who helped establish Olympic Memorial Hospital, which is known today as the Olympic Medical Center. To this day, the hospital preserves his memory with the Fairshter Meeting Room on its main campus.
Incredible Longevity: He was famously dedicated to his patients, maintaining his active medical practice in Port Angeles until his retirement in 2006—meaning he actively treated the community for roughly 65 years. He passed away a few years later in May 2008 at the age of 91.
I will wait "patiently" (get it: patient vs. patience) for an official editor's correction in a follow-up article that will sing the praises of the WestEnd and all its glory compared to the lowly Middle and East Clallam County-Enders.
The WestEnder oppression has been allowed for far too long; we will no longer allow these assumptions to persist. For time and memorial, the WestEnd has been and will always be.
Its an "outpost' and as long as the ribbon cutters have a say and keep chanting "Cutthegrove' it will remain and outpost..with a million dollar sewage treatment plant of course.
No members of the William Shore Pool Board responded to yesterday's questions about the voucher program. Here is today's email sent to the Clallam County Commissioners:
Dear Commissioners,
Your mission statement speaks about serving residents, effective communication, and being responsive to the public. In 2024, the Board unanimously adopted a resolution urging voters to support Olympic Medical Center's levy lid lift. The League of Women Voters and other community leaders encouraged this stance and assured residents that higher property taxes were necessary to stabilize the hospital and protect local healthcare.
Two years later, property taxpayers have paid more, housing affordability has worsened, and newly released records show OMC lost more than 180 employees in less than a year while auditors warn of substantial doubt about the hospital's ability to continue operating.
When the levy was being promoted, commissioners publicly attached their names and credibility to the effort. Now that the situation appears to be deteriorating rather than improving, what specific public actions will the Board take? Will the commissioners provide residents with an accounting of what was promised, what was achieved, and what went wrong? More importantly, will the Board accept any responsibility for urging taxpayers to make this investment?
Residents were asked to trust their elected officials and pay more. What do they have to show for it today?
It is my experience that when more & more money is thrown at a problem, where no solutions are found and improvements are nonexistent, then those involved in handling that money never intended to materially solve any problems in the first place! As an old economic analyst I ALWAYS laugh when it is reported that "the money just disappeared" as if money could even do that as a "natural magical" disappearing act~! HA! Someone always knows exactly where that money is, because as you may have noticed, folks like money and don't go around "losing" is willy nilly~! You do also raise another good question about who could be on the hook for a closed OMC operation. I am sure that the OMC is just another "corporation" and therefore should it be necessary to close its doors, it should go into a bankruptcy. If it does close its doors, which MAY unfortunately be the best option at some point, and it does not enter a bankruptcy status that relieves the taxpayer from any further carnage, then "we" shall know that the criminals involved in this disaster are very intentionally just continuing their milking of the local taxpayers as usual... When was the last time "we" saw a tax reduced or eliminated by the government??? There is a very good potential opportunity for the good folks of our community to want the OMC to close its operation if it is that far gone, to take it into bankruptcy, so that a new community hospital system could pick up the pieces and start anew with a competent management team! I suggest that "we" be very careful and vigilant however, because I smell a rat~! We already know that some secret closed-door conversations have been ongoing with other hospital entities, so I would not be surprised if "suddenly" at some point it is announces that our community hospital system has already sold us all out without any say or input from the taxpayers who would most likely remain on the hook AND face more & more money laundering extortions in the future~! We should probably demand a "break away" solution for a new hospital system, because I am confident that that could be done FAR better for the patients' wellness. Assuming that our hospital is really there for the patient's well-being~!
However, I do remember on August 1 of 2006 the telephone tax was removed from my phone bill by the Treasury Department. The bill was enacted in 1898 to fund the Spanish American War. Over the years it was removed and reinstated Ad Nauseum but finally the IRS and Treasury Department said that we taxpayers had finally paid of the Spanish American War!
I appreciate that information very much and wonder how it all fits into the crappola mill that we are dealing with today. Of course, the telephone was not invented until 1876, and it took many years for it to become commonplace, but I had never heard of "The Spanish War phone tax" before. What a trip! I don't doubt it though... Sounds like another revenue scheme to me ;-) I have however, analyzed the infamous sinking of the Maine that got Americans all worked up against the Spanish, so that the fraudulent "corporate US" could get support for that war... I agree with many others who find that the criminals in the corporate US government actually sunk the Maine in a "false flag" attack, and that they actually triggered that war. I do not believe that Spain attacked the Maine, and the unsuspecting Americans who fell for that deception were just played for fools... Anyway, I am aware that a few taxes have been "removed" over the years in fake ploys to give Americans the impression that the government is not rotten to the core, but I have never seen any tax really removed, because soon the crooks in the government just pop up with another bigger tax to increase their theft... It has just been a "name game" (shell game of taxes) for a very long time... As I was writing that initial response of mine this morning, I was actually being just a little facetious because for several years I have actually been tracking the greatest REAL removal of a tax in US history that I believe is not too far off~! Most Americans have absolutely no idea that President Trump and the white hats have been winding down the IRS operations (along with The Federal Reserve) for many years now, even though the proof has been right in everyone's faces all along. The federal Income tax was never legal, lawful, or Constitutional, so it really looks like it is going to be "terminated"~! Even better, as the Federal Income tax was a complete fraud, I suspect that at least some of those stolen moneys COULD be returned to the living American taxpayers. Fraud vitiates EVERYTHING, and therefore it is actually "Constitutionally correct" that the fruits of that federal government crime spree be returned to the victims. Common law 101... We shall see. While the clowns who know absolutely nothing about American history or basic Economics were screaming, bitching and moaning about the foreign tariffs, as usual they were ignorant of the fact that the US government used to operate 100% on them and even better than the ever did by stealing the Americans hard earned money. The tariffs have already proven to have been VERY effective at funding the federal government, and true to form there is most likely going to be a new national sales tax on NEW (non-essential) items only that will be split between the state where the transaction occurs and the federal government. The states that receive their share of this new tax will have to drop their existing sales tax and very possibly their Income tax, real estate taxes, and possibly more state taxes if they want their share of the new federal tax that will probably be @ 14%. You may have noted that some states are already in the process of eliminating their real estate taxes, which I see as further proof of this grand economic transformation ;-)) When I first heard of this part of The Plan, I was absolutely THRILLED at its brilliance for every reason that I could think of, in large part because it only applies to NEW items! You see, that makes it far more Constitutional because Americans can chose NOT to pay that tax if they buy used items and that supports freedom of choice ;-) It will also encourage the manufactures to quit making complete BS garbage that ends up in our landfills, AND it will encourage folks to buy old high-quality items and fix them up! I really like the old quality stuff, especially cars and trucks ;-) VERY cool! Anyway, I could ramble on, but I am sure that you get the idea and we do have to be patient to see just how this all unfolds. This 4th of July, or possibly later this year, COULD see some interesting things being announced... Unless the insanely treasonous Trump derangement clown show that has fallen for all of the lies and deceptions of the criminals of humanity destroy the astounding efforts that are already unfolding, which I doubt that they can because getting in the way and causing trouble now will likely result in them being imprisoned or killed, "we" (America) are.is just about to enter the greatest economic BOOM in history that will very likely never be exceeded again! Much of the entire world as well! So, it's worth a serious shot and if we are betrayed, we can always deal with that because Americans have a HUGE amount of power if they are forced to fight for their freedom and rights the hard way~! Have a great afternoon and make it safe & fun because that is important~!
I suppose that I did attempt to impart some of my hard earned "information", however I believe that Jeff Tozzer actually deserves the credit for my simple "reminder" of his previously reported information right here on The Watchdog~! In short, "we" are all in this together as a team, as was the true original intent of The American Constitution and our founding fathers and mothers~! Ha! I am not trying to be "politically correct" in any way, because that perverted evil socialist nonsense personally disgusts me, but I have always known that our founding fathers also obviously had the founding mothers of those days who greatly contributed as well... Anyway, good job doing your part and keep up the great work~! With a LOT of hard work, a little good luck, and Gods help, we may just see some material improvements of our problems soon~! We can't afford to fail ;-)
Well, after decades of my bumbling and fumbling, God is STILL there for me, so I am living proof that He has patience no end~! ;-) Yes, my friend, I do believe that "we" have the same goal in mind. After spending the first couple of decades in my life hearing the BS media constantly telling everyone that Americans are divided and all want different things, I realized that was ALL lies~! Yes, there are some extremists who have wild opinions, however the vast majority of us want the same basic things with only different opinions about how to achieve the common goals. That can be overcome by practicing good and honest communications techniques! HaZa~! That is obviously why the criminals of humanity, and their brainless "useful idiots" go WAY out of their way to attempt to divide all against each other~! These criminals and their evil Hobgoblin trolls "get off" by screwing with good folks, they make GOBZZZ of money that they derive from the disfunction and carnage that they foster, AND of course they have maintained control over the US and most of the entire world for a LOT longer than most currently realize... I just happen to have the perfect "trifecta" of sciences that can COMPLETELY reveal and analyze what these scumbags of the world are really up to = History, Economics, and of course Law~! I do not profess to "know everything" but I am reasonably proficient ;-) So, even when our patience is stretched, which at times mine sure is, we would be well advised to keep in mind that the vast majority of all of us really do want the same basic minimal things. Individual freedom, our rights, and to be left alone without the government or anyone else screwing with us~! That should not be too much to ask, but now we have been pushed too far by these criminals of humanity and many of us refuse to take the abuse anymore! Just say no~! ;-))
I'd rather the BOCC abstain from taking positions on other taxing districts because otherwise it becomes what we're seeing and that's a non-thinking good 'ol boy system. These people run in the same circles meeting others connected in positions of authority and it becomes a clique. We get the same junior high, non-thinking, group responses influencing voters devoid of crucially understanding the situation.
The BOCC rubber-stamping of everything that comes their way is a cultural problem. Why not just decline and let the taxing district do their own work?
The LWVs...pfft, unimpressed, as usual. They walk around with an undeserved cache yet the county website still has them listed as a resource.
Good morning Patriots, Oh boy, where do I start? This has been happening long before 2024. I have personally known healthcare workers that have left there because of bad working conditions and morale issues. I am retired now, but I was in healthcare since 2011.
Under the current administration, I’m sorry to say this hospital is going to continue to implode. My own personal doctor left OMC and it took me a whole year to find him. Thank God I did because the practice that he was with never contacted me even though I contacted them for continued care. I was very lucky because I did not need his services at that time
But I have a rare condition that requires ongoing care. It’s a sad state of affairs because more and more people are going over to Jefferson healthcare which I am one of those people. I pray that they will get this figured out.
Another CC fix by more money means more money ill spent. How many times do we have to fail on this trap? Without fixes to the current problems the money is wasted. OMC has had leadership problems for some time and their fix was to hire a guy that closes hospitals for a living. We are continuing to be sold by the dems in charge that money solves the problems they created. It seems that again our county has failed us with some more smoke and mirrors. Where is monkey and the pig when we point out the failures of their leaders and have NO solutions?
Ah yes, the classic ‘you offer no solutions’ line... usually deployed by someone who hasn’t recognized that step one of any solution is ‘stop making things up.’ Hard to build anything on a foundation of fiction, but I admire the confidence.
And as for being the ‘complaint department,’ I get why it feels that way.
When your entire feed is a conveyor belt of complaints, anyone pointing out basic reality probably does sound like customer service.
So send all your hard earned money into your cohorts in CC and see what kind of return on investment you get. Then at the end of the year you could join CCWD as a true solution embassador. PM you CANT be
honestly happy with where we are at in CC fiscally. If you are you are a blind , deaf, and not mute monkey. Thanks for the laugh I get at your no common sense comments.
We tax-paying citizens are beyond fed up with being the County's perceived money tree while being sold on blatantly false promises of unicorns and fairy dust. I'll keep voting "no" on every new tax or tax increase because things will never change with the same people believing in the same fantasies.
Regarding the podcast section on the Safe Parking program and questions regarding it:
At last week’s Homelessness meeting, which I observed via Zoom, the public was told—at length—that questions do not necessarily require answers. This was stated by the same individual, Viola Ware, who recently received a 60 year proclamation at a Board of County Commissioners meeting. That posture is troubling. When public funds are involved, the public not only has the right to ask questions; the public has the right to receive clear, accurate answers.
During the same meeting, Joe Cress from Trinity United Methodist Church provided an update on the Safe Parking Program and repeatedly referenced OLYCAP’s involvement. He described tasks performed by OLYCAP staff, including physically moving barriers for church volunteers. Yet at the Commissioners meeting, Ms. Ware stated that Safe Parking “was not their program,” that it was strictly between the County and the church, and that she did not know where the funds go. It is correct that the grant award is between the church and the county but OLYCAP receives most of the funding.
Public records show that the majority of Safe Parking funds flow directly to OLYCAP payroll. Timesheets dating back to last August 2025, list OLYCAP staff being paid under this program, with Ms. Ware—the same individual who stated she did not know where the money goes—approving those timesheets. That is not a minor detail. It directly contradicts the claim that OLYCAP had no knowledge of the funding.
The timing also raises legitimate questions. Approximately a year ago, Commissioner French noted that OLYCAP funding was being reduced and staff would need to be reassigned. Shortly thereafter, document fee funding became available, a new program was created, and some OLYCAP staff were placed on that program—even during periods when there were no clients. This pattern reasonably prompts questions about whether these funds were used to backfill organizational shortfalls, which would constitute supplanting.
The public has been patient. We have asked respectfully. We have submitted written questions. We have attended meetings. And yet we still do not have clear answers.
These are not accusations. These are documented inconsistencies that require clarification. The public deserves accurate information, and the County has a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer and fee based funds are used as intended.
The OMC problem is multifaceted. I assigned 1/3 of the blame to Washington DC and the unprofitable reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid. Another third of the blame goes to the Clallam County economy. OMC’s payor mix has increased from 70% Medicare/Medicaid to roughly 85% today. If we had more living wage jobs with private insurance, our largest employer, OMC, would be profitable. Lastly, 1/3 of the blame is OMC‘s fault. Management let expenses outpace revenues as productivity metrics showed meaningful underutilization of hospital providers. Most notably someone in management admitted that only three of 80 providers were meeting the industry average benchmark set at the 50th percentile for productivity of similar types of hospitals. Running a hospital is very very challenging. The fixed costs are incredibly high to provide such a wide range of services. The issues over high turnover and staff morale are very typical for turnaround situations. I actually praise the interim CEO and CFO for being bold and demanding change. It was long overdue. Net/net, let’s all make sure when we’re finger pointing and looking to blame someone that we are reminded of the three key reasons, yet only one of them can be controlled by OMC’s management.
So, what we have here is a circular firing squad. Your business perspective gives factual causes for our predicament, but the overall frustration and anger from the tax paying citizenry is that we were lied to AGAIN!
This entire community (and perhaps the state of WA) has a spending problem. We somehow believe that primarily relying on tax funded programs (for government, roads, hospitals, non profits, social services, etc) is economic development. At some point, the only sustainable economic model is steady growth with from a balance of private companies offering living wage jobs. Instead, we have a balance of "protectionists and victims". I can see this in the culture of City Hall, where the the average wage is meaningfully higher than the average citizen. All they want to do is protect the status quo and make it to their own retirement.
Watch in action at the BOCC every Monday & Tuesday, no real accountability, no “NAYS”. Throwing more money at an issue fixes nothing. When you keep doing the same thing you get the same results.
When groups decide issues with consensus, this 'no nays' is what we get.
"Consensus refers to a general agreement among members of a society or political entities regarding fundamental values, goals, and the rules of the political game. It doesn’t necessarily mean unanimous agreement, but rather a widespread acceptance that prevents major, ongoing conflict over core issues."
While I agree with most of your statements, earlier you stated " 1/3 of the blame to Washington DC and the unprofitable reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid." Isn't 'profit' also 'economic development'?
OMC is essentially losing money on 85% of revenues. Name any business where that is a financially sustainable business model. The only profit is from private insurance (which essentially subsidizes the the low Medicare and Medicaid payouts). The other issue is simply classification... If OMC shrinks to what is called a critical access hospital, then as if by magic, the feds then reimburse 101% of costs. Net/net, OMC's designation puts them at a structural disadvantage to all other healthcare providers in this community. Jefferson and Jamestown all have higher reimbursement rates and can thus "afford" to attract and retain staff. The best case scenario is that the interim CEO finds a way to tread water while DC makes changes. He is doing that now by attempting to drive productivity (more revenue over a fixed cost base), but cutting capex and delaying payments to suppliers is not viable long term. If OMC has to shrink down to a critical access hospital, I predict there will be hundreds of more jobs lost (e.g. they would have to close the operations in Sequim as the current rules don't allow two critical access hospitals to be too close together - and Jefferson is not that far away). I further worry that even more people leave the community because of a lack of healthcare services.
What is worrisome is that Social Security and Medicare funds are drying up and may be gone in 6 years and Congress refuses to look at life support options. Hang on us old farts!
Appreciate the perspective, especially around demand for changes. Do you think it had to come at the cost of a costly interim CEO?
The economy. A massive influence here that on the heals of Colleen McAleer's resignation is leaving me with less hope that our county has a plan to lead vs being tail whipped by circumstances.
I don't think the Interim CEO was "costly". The savings he implemented in Supplies alone more than covered his cost. Even more important, timing has value... had OMC brought him in earlier, maybe we wouldn't have lost $70 million over the past four years? Finally, I think people need to realize what the market rate is for a CEO. This is from ChatGPT...
"Yes. In the context of a hospital like Olympic Medical Center—roughly 1,400 employees, about $600 million in gross revenue (approximately $300 million net patient revenue), and operating as a rural standalone public hospital—I estimate the following:
Position Base Salary Total Annual Compensation*
Typical rural community hospital CEO $500k–$800k $700k–$1.2M
Strong turnaround CEO with proven track record $700k–$1.0M $1.0M–$1.8M
Top-tier national health system CEOs $1M+ $2M+
*Including incentives, retirement contributions, deferred compensation, and other benefits.
Key points from our discussion
CEO compensation is small relative to the size of the organization. Even a $1 million compensation package is only about 0.17% of a $600 million revenue base.
For an organization that has lost roughly $70 million since 2022, paying more for an exceptional turnaround executive could easily be justified if that leader improves results by several million dollars annually.
Rural standalone hospitals generally pay less than large urban systems, but they often need to offer a premium to attract experienced executives willing to relocate and tackle difficult financial situations.
In comparison, former OMC CEO Darryl Wolfe earned roughly $280k base salary, plus incentive opportunity, car allowance, and benefits, bringing total compensation into the $325k–$400k range. That level is considerably below what many comparable hospital CEOs earn.
I also noted that if OMC were recruiting a high-caliber turnaround CEO with demonstrated success at restoring finances and improving productivity, a package in the neighborhood of $900,000–$1.5 million total compensation would not be unreasonable and could represent a very attractive return on investment if the executive succeeded in returning the hospital to profitability."
The futility of it all has worn me down. The more I dig, the more I see the lack of financial literacy, leadership and even integrity in City Hall. I am giving this place until 2030 to find a skilled leader that will inspire and execute a turnaround growth strategy (btw, Port Angeles and OMC woes are really one in the same). It is most telling to me to watch when we do see someone willing to invest in our community, the local government/tribe/community fights it, or tries to extort as much as they can. (e.g. timber harvests, Amazon, the upcoming buyer for the McKinley mill site, Platypus lawsuit, Brix Marine project, Seabrook, Dupar downtown condos, tribe hotel, etc.).
The sea level rise map, Ron Allen standing in front of Hotels advocating for salmon on a 15 percent grade, Oppression Olympics, Communists ribbon cutters that take over not only libraries but government positions.
When its good density, the sea level/Tsunami issues do not exist. When the Port wants to give away land to a tribe that the NOAA map says will be under water in 20 years, the sea level rise map is non-existent.
Its all about holding Clallam County's nose like Dr. Turner until the land can be reclaimed.
We are stuck in a "nostalgia" loop. People want to return to the "good ole days". I am sorry, but timber and marine will never be as important for this economy as it was prior to the 1990s. We must adapt. Grant writers should not be the fastest growing job in our community. Despite the "anti growth" and "you are not from here" attitudes, we must grow and spread the financial burden among more citizens. If you go back to Economics 101, we are witnessing the Laffer Curve in real time. People are voting with their feet and moving. This will accelerate the economic tailspin until a real leader steps up and attitudes change.
Most of us that have relocated here did so for the RURAL life style. It too us 40 years to be able to do so. Many move here thinking they want RURAL living, and then start to miss the amenities of URBAN living. The OMC began building as if it were an URBAN facility, relying on government support, expanding beyond its ability to pay for it. We have built a socialized medicine society, expecting government to pay for cradle to grave support. You're right, that's the first third you stated. Then the second third was perpetuated by the stagnation of the local economy through excessive regulation and lack of infrastructure to allow for expansion. The third was brought on by poor management and over expansion of the Hospital into a more urban entity, offering more than the economy can support. Putting the cart before the horse. Just a thought.
100%. OMC once was consistently profitable. It is mostly due to a mix shift in jobs (more part time/seasonal), and demographics (we have more people over 70 than under 18). If we could somehow regain 1000 living wage jobs previously lost with private insurance AND they all used OMC, the hospital would be financially viable. As a reminder McKinley was 200-300 jobs. Westport is down 425 jobs, and now OMC is on its way to shrink probably by 200-300. It just shocks me that the losses are not acknowledged and instead we fight any growth in an attempt to protect a rural life style. We seem to forget that Clallam is not immune to global inflation. Growth is REQUIRED to survive. All of our woes can be traced to anemic population, wages, and job growth.
I am pushing back on the notion that its bad returning to "good ole days". While log exportation and clear cuts for an economy is not a sound strategy, forest management and manufacturing local products from that resource stream is absolutely a viable economy for this region. It would be a shrewd pivot for our region.
To continue to let forest burn up into "beneficial microbes" when we should be managing it for a local economy is not a sound strategy.
Our economy should absolutely be based in part on forest management. Its the log exportation "good ole days' we can spare.
200 jobs managing forest/ 200 jobs manufacturing wood products. That's a sound economic strategy. Lots of income trickling in in the form of sales taxes.
I am all for more timber related jobs - so long as they don't leave us with toxic waste sites like Rayonier. I simply want more diversification into other industries too. More manufacturing - possibly leveraging marine and the free trade zone designation. More remote jobs (earn money elsewhere but spend local). Imagine if Microsoft had a Olympic Peninsula Research Lab with 500 high paying jobs? We need all of these just to offset the losses we have seen. Instead, the community likes to fight anyone that tries to invest here.
The system is broken and the audits of OMC showed lack of control on spending. You
are missing the point. Poor hospitals make it hard for economic development. Unhappy employees at OMC are numerous and frustrated yet you applaud the current executives. Not a fix when you don’t have the bees making the honey. Downward spiral continues with all the excuses you have used. Our current county leaders are anti business true but we can change that. Try stop giving the local construction jobs to outside companies. We send about $300m in money to them this past year alone in school and medical projects. Local economy would flourish if the revenue stayed in CC. Where is Frenchie and CO working on this? We need more than a band aid!
I just remembered doing some research a year or so ago about the average employee turnover rate for public hospitals. I was shocked when I heard it was more than 20%. I remember that OMC actually has a lower attrition rate but it’s still boggles my mind that they need to hire 250 to 300 people every year. And that’s just the normal rate. Now that I think about it, I’m actually surprised that employee turnover hasn’t been significantly worse given all the rumors of management changes impacting employee morale. Lastly, I’m actually surprised that the hospital has not done any layoffs. Employee salary and benefits represent more than 2/3 of patient revenue. The quickest way to get to breakeven would be a massive reduction in force or layoff. They have not done that. Instead they’ve let the natural attrition lower overall headcount. That’s actually pretty impressive. I still don’t rule out them having to do something more aggressive in the future, but I’m actually going to praise the interim CEO for keeping the turnover or attrition rate relatively in line with historical trends and industry averages.
Very off topic but IMO important child safety info:
Today's PDN front page features a photo of a man in front of a toy store in PT with his cute little attractive to children R2D2 robot. The caption says his name is Frank Reuter. That's his wife's last name. His name is actually Frances Barevich (unless he legally changed it) and although (because WA is so predator friendly) he is not required to publicly register here, he was convicted in another state of multiple counts of child porn, some involving children under the age of 8. Horrific stuff.
“Is it live or is it Memorex?” Is it a Façade? It’s all real to people until the truth is exposed, thank you Susie, you would think PDN would have done THEIR homework before promoting a pedophile. Goes to show PDN standards of reporting.
Susie, I can't get over children being a second thought, it use to be protecting our children was always NUMBER ONE! Christ Almighty what is happening? Jake Seegers places family happiness in his goals and it shows in his involvement with his family. We need to swing the pendulum back to family values and safety. Thank you for everything you do ; )
OMG...Brings back creepy memories of my hometown, in the 1960's where a known pedo (known to children and other pedos anyway) owned the largest toy store in county, and never got 'caught.'
Thank you for this very sad and disturbing disclosure about the recent extraordinary exodus of personnel from our local community hospital system, Patriot Jeff Tozzer~! I know that you and the good folks of The Watchdog, as well as the local community, take no pleasure in this very serious problem, but the first step in successfully solving any problem is identifying it. As an "ancient" personnel executive myself I am "hard wired" to want to solve this problem to get the OMC on a track of success~! The most important next step is to cut through the mountain of conveniently orchestrated paperwork, and constant deceptive reasoning and rationale, to get to the root of this massive loss of hospital staff. As I read through all of the specific job classifications of those employees who have "departed" from the OMC I can clearly see that the list is widespread across all of the hospital job positions. This in and of itself strongly suggests that the root of the problem is directly connected to failures in management at the highest level, however it would be unfair, incompetent, and premature to fail to perform a thorough investigation into this matter, rather than to proceed to take any actions based upon assumptions. This investigation and analysis should not take more than a month or two, assuming that there is no effort to interfere with it. In short, any competent hospital director worth their salt would need to discover the reason WHY these 180+ employees no longer work at the OMC~! t would be expected to discover a wide variety of reasons for this dramatic loss of personnel; however, I have never seen a case like this where the majority of such departures didn't have a common denominator~! What is the REAL reason that SO many presumably competent employees left their jobs at the OMC~? If there is a serious systemic issue, which I strongly suspect, then simply attempting to fill all of these job vacancies will NEVER work short OR long term and no one (especially the patients) will be well served and happy. Yes, there are those of us in the community who could see through the lies and deceptions of The League of Women Voters and others who had absolutely no business pushing the outrageous elevated tax theft for a clearly failing hospital system, in the usual incompetent failed rational of throwing more & more money at a problem without first doing any reasonable research into the root of the problem. However, for the time being we would be better off focusing upon "saving the patient" (the hospital) and dealing with the other issues at a later time. I know that my words will mostly fall upon deaf ears of those with no tolerance for reasonable and rational common-sense solutions at this very odd dysfunctional time of American history, but someday when enough of the folks in our local community have suffered maybe there will still be a few of us remaining who have the experience to actually solve problems. Unfortunately, tragically, there has been an ugly trend in the American population to vilify, demonize, and otherwise eliminate those of us who actually have a great many decades of successful problem-solving skills, and the resulting "Brain Drain" has already proven to have had a devastating effect all across the US. I know that there are numerous folks in the younger generations who have talent and good intentions, however this insane ignorance of the absolute value of experience has resulted in a tremendous number of these problems that our society now faces. Again, I am reminded of that wise heroic lone fireman in the glorious old movie "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World", where he does his very best to warn the greedy emotionally hysterical people NOT to climb up the ladder all at the same time~! Ha! Ironically, in the final scene ALL of those who foolishly chose to ignore that fireman, who was the only voice of experience and reason, ended up in the hospital~! History repeats itself, only because people keep repeating the same foolish mistakes~! Stay as healthy as possible, because those of us who understand my words here know damn well that things won't be improving at the OMC anytime soon, because precious few will listen to the obvious warnings right in everyone's face today~!
Our community is reaching a point where the economic pressures can no longer be ignored. In recent months, I have watched several long‑standing small business owners—people who have invested their lives and livelihoods here—pack up and leave. Another one announced this week that they are “voting with their feet.” When local entrepreneurs begin relocating, it is not a political statement; it is a clear economic warning. They are leaving because the cost of operating here has outpaced the benefits of staying.
We cannot continue relying on short‑term grants to prop up long‑term obligations. Grants were never intended to serve as a permanent operating model for local government or nonprofit systems. Yet year after year, we see the same cycle: new grants, new programs, expanded administrative overhead, and no measurable improvement in outcomes. When the grant funding runs thin, the burden shifts directly to residents through higher taxes and fees.
This approach is not sustainable. A shrinking private‑sector base cannot support an ever‑expanding public and nonprofit infrastructure. As more small businesses close or relocate, we lose jobs, sales tax revenue, community anchors, and future investment. Meanwhile, the financial demands on remaining residents continue to grow.
If we want a stable, healthy local economy, we must prioritize policies that strengthen the private sector, reduce dependency on temporary funding streams, and ensure that every publicly funded program demonstrates clear, measurable results. Our residents deserve a fiscal model that is transparent, accountable, and sustainable—not one that drives families and businesses away.
We cannot continue with the same model and "leadership" must change their stagnent ideas that have been in place for many years here. Vote not with your feet, but vote wisely to change the direction of this county.
given the amount of crap going on with our Department of Revenue (adding sales tax where it never existed before..with "service" and "creatives"... I'm ready to leave, too.
Great public comments! I really liked the one (forget his name) about Dr. Berry violating her position under state codes by her comments in the board of health meeting.
The recordings you played from the public comments that pushed for the hospital tax increase that had to do with care for babies and moms: there are more deaths in this area than births. Population only increases out here due to in-migration and people moving here, not because of births. That’s not to say births don’t matter, but that demographic fact tells me more services are needed for people who aren’t babies or giving birth.
I looked at the jobs link you included; in the ‘providers’ category of job openings, only one out of 18 was for a nurse midwife; the rest had to do with specialities outside of birthing. Maybe they’re loaded up on birthing providers and don’t need to hire more than one right now, but the hospital obviously needs more providers for clients who aren’t giving birth and that is the largest demographic out here.
Meanwhile in Jefferson County, our neighbors, seem to be running a great hospital, and by gosh Mickey Mouse the headlines in today's The Leader says "Wildlife refuge transfer ignites county." Gwarsh Mickey, do you think these folks listen to their constituents?
@JeffTozzer, excuse me, sir.
Dear CC Watchdog Editor, I request a correction and a follow-up glowing article about the WestEnd to counteract this cultural bias. On your podcast, you assumed OMC was #1 PHD. This is an example of why the WestEND feels underrepresented and perpetuates the assumption that PA and Sequim are the number 1s.
Forks Community Hospital, aka Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 1, was the first public hospital district established in the state of Washington next to King County:
Washington State’s public hospital districts (PHDs) were born out of a critical need to sustain healthcare access in rural and expanding communities, a movement heavily championed by early providers right on the Olympic Peninsula.
Here is the timeline of how that statutory framework was built and how Forks Community Hospital led the charge:
1929: First Hospital Built in Forks
Dr. Ulrick S. Ford builds the original hospital in Forks. His dedication to sustaining rural healthcare on the West End eventually becomes a driving force behind the statewide push for formalized hospital district legislation.
1945: Statutory Authority Established
The Washington State Legislature adopts RCW 70.44. This landmark legislation formally grants local communities the governmental authority to create public hospital districts, allowing them to deliver health services and levy taxes to support community-owned care.
1947: The First Districts Formed
The Washington Hospital District law is fully realized. Both Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 1 (Forks Community Hospital) and King County Public Hospital District No. 1 (Valley Medical Center in Renton) are established this year. Because PHDs are numbered by their respective counties, both entities historically lay claim to being the very first public hospital district formed in the state.
1952: Statewide Advocacy Unified
The Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts (AWPHD) is established to serve as the unified voice for these newly formed governmental entities, ensuring rural and community-owned healthcare facilities have dedicated representation at the state level.
Because public hospital districts are formed at the county level, you will see multiple "District No. 1" designations across the state today. However, Clallam and King counties were the true pioneers in utilizing this governance model to permanently secure their communities' healthcare infrastructure.
I stand corrected!
While Forks (District No. 1) was the legislative spark and the state's first hospital district, Olympic Medical Center (OMC), or Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 2, followed closely behind as a response to the rapid post-war growth of Port Angeles and the eastern Olympic Peninsula.
The Formation of District No. 2
1948 – The Legal Founding: Following the success of Dr. Ford’s 1945 legislation and the creation of the Forks district in 1947, community leaders in Port Angeles moved to organize their own special purpose district. The government entity for Clallam County Public Hospital District No. 2 was officially founded on September 15, 1948.
1951 – Opening Olympic Memorial: After three years of planning and construction to address the post-WWII healthcare shortage, the district opened Olympic Memorial Hospital on November 1, 1951. It launched with approximately 80 employees to serve an area that had previously been underserved and geographically isolated.
2000 – Rebranding to OMC: In March 2000, the facility was officially renamed Olympic Medical Center to reflect its evolution from a single rural hospital into a comprehensive regional medical system with facilities in both Port Angeles and Sequim.
Great things come from Forks! Like me!! I was born in the Forks hospital 🙂
My dad was born there too. But that hospital was flattened by a gas explosion. Great things come from Forks!
I heard about that... I barely remember living in Forks. My parents owned the Hoh river resort store and cabins for many years. It's all torn down now.
I used to deliver a Hotel Coupon Guide to one of those resorts out there. What a cool job that was.
Dr. Fairshter would be proud of you, giving Clallam County a plug.
Olympic Memorial Founding: In 1951, Dr. Jacob Fairshter was honored as one of the original founding physicians who helped establish Olympic Memorial Hospital, which is known today as the Olympic Medical Center. To this day, the hospital preserves his memory with the Fairshter Meeting Room on its main campus.
Incredible Longevity: He was famously dedicated to his patients, maintaining his active medical practice in Port Angeles until his retirement in 2006—meaning he actively treated the community for roughly 65 years. He passed away a few years later in May 2008 at the age of 91.
He originally trained at the now YMCA location on Francis street at the Port Angeles General Hospital.
My mother was in nurses training at the Port Angeles hospital from 1938-1941. Dr. Fairshter was one of her teachers.
Appreciate this historical addendum to SC.
ahha , there you have it, bigger is better?????
Most people would consider it being schooled, but in this instance you got doctored :)
I will wait "patiently" (get it: patient vs. patience) for an official editor's correction in a follow-up article that will sing the praises of the WestEnd and all its glory compared to the lowly Middle and East Clallam County-Enders.
The WestEnder oppression has been allowed for far too long; we will no longer allow these assumptions to persist. For time and memorial, the WestEnd has been and will always be.
;-)
Its an "outpost' and as long as the ribbon cutters have a say and keep chanting "Cutthegrove' it will remain and outpost..with a million dollar sewage treatment plant of course.
Very much enjoyed reading this historical note.
No members of the William Shore Pool Board responded to yesterday's questions about the voucher program. Here is today's email sent to the Clallam County Commissioners:
Dear Commissioners,
Your mission statement speaks about serving residents, effective communication, and being responsive to the public. In 2024, the Board unanimously adopted a resolution urging voters to support Olympic Medical Center's levy lid lift. The League of Women Voters and other community leaders encouraged this stance and assured residents that higher property taxes were necessary to stabilize the hospital and protect local healthcare.
Two years later, property taxpayers have paid more, housing affordability has worsened, and newly released records show OMC lost more than 180 employees in less than a year while auditors warn of substantial doubt about the hospital's ability to continue operating.
When the levy was being promoted, commissioners publicly attached their names and credibility to the effort. Now that the situation appears to be deteriorating rather than improving, what specific public actions will the Board take? Will the commissioners provide residents with an accounting of what was promised, what was achieved, and what went wrong? More importantly, will the Board accept any responsibility for urging taxpayers to make this investment?
Residents were asked to trust their elected officials and pay more. What do they have to show for it today?
More debt and no solutions! When they close OMC and they owe money are the taxpayers left to pay the shortfall? I hope not.
Hello, Patriot jedjennings50~!
It is my experience that when more & more money is thrown at a problem, where no solutions are found and improvements are nonexistent, then those involved in handling that money never intended to materially solve any problems in the first place! As an old economic analyst I ALWAYS laugh when it is reported that "the money just disappeared" as if money could even do that as a "natural magical" disappearing act~! HA! Someone always knows exactly where that money is, because as you may have noticed, folks like money and don't go around "losing" is willy nilly~! You do also raise another good question about who could be on the hook for a closed OMC operation. I am sure that the OMC is just another "corporation" and therefore should it be necessary to close its doors, it should go into a bankruptcy. If it does close its doors, which MAY unfortunately be the best option at some point, and it does not enter a bankruptcy status that relieves the taxpayer from any further carnage, then "we" shall know that the criminals involved in this disaster are very intentionally just continuing their milking of the local taxpayers as usual... When was the last time "we" saw a tax reduced or eliminated by the government??? There is a very good potential opportunity for the good folks of our community to want the OMC to close its operation if it is that far gone, to take it into bankruptcy, so that a new community hospital system could pick up the pieces and start anew with a competent management team! I suggest that "we" be very careful and vigilant however, because I smell a rat~! We already know that some secret closed-door conversations have been ongoing with other hospital entities, so I would not be surprised if "suddenly" at some point it is announces that our community hospital system has already sold us all out without any say or input from the taxpayers who would most likely remain on the hook AND face more & more money laundering extortions in the future~! We should probably demand a "break away" solution for a new hospital system, because I am confident that that could be done FAR better for the patients' wellness. Assuming that our hospital is really there for the patient's well-being~!
Sincerely, Mike
However, I do remember on August 1 of 2006 the telephone tax was removed from my phone bill by the Treasury Department. The bill was enacted in 1898 to fund the Spanish American War. Over the years it was removed and reinstated Ad Nauseum but finally the IRS and Treasury Department said that we taxpayers had finally paid of the Spanish American War!
That is hilarious, Patriot Geoff Fox~!
I appreciate that information very much and wonder how it all fits into the crappola mill that we are dealing with today. Of course, the telephone was not invented until 1876, and it took many years for it to become commonplace, but I had never heard of "The Spanish War phone tax" before. What a trip! I don't doubt it though... Sounds like another revenue scheme to me ;-) I have however, analyzed the infamous sinking of the Maine that got Americans all worked up against the Spanish, so that the fraudulent "corporate US" could get support for that war... I agree with many others who find that the criminals in the corporate US government actually sunk the Maine in a "false flag" attack, and that they actually triggered that war. I do not believe that Spain attacked the Maine, and the unsuspecting Americans who fell for that deception were just played for fools... Anyway, I am aware that a few taxes have been "removed" over the years in fake ploys to give Americans the impression that the government is not rotten to the core, but I have never seen any tax really removed, because soon the crooks in the government just pop up with another bigger tax to increase their theft... It has just been a "name game" (shell game of taxes) for a very long time... As I was writing that initial response of mine this morning, I was actually being just a little facetious because for several years I have actually been tracking the greatest REAL removal of a tax in US history that I believe is not too far off~! Most Americans have absolutely no idea that President Trump and the white hats have been winding down the IRS operations (along with The Federal Reserve) for many years now, even though the proof has been right in everyone's faces all along. The federal Income tax was never legal, lawful, or Constitutional, so it really looks like it is going to be "terminated"~! Even better, as the Federal Income tax was a complete fraud, I suspect that at least some of those stolen moneys COULD be returned to the living American taxpayers. Fraud vitiates EVERYTHING, and therefore it is actually "Constitutionally correct" that the fruits of that federal government crime spree be returned to the victims. Common law 101... We shall see. While the clowns who know absolutely nothing about American history or basic Economics were screaming, bitching and moaning about the foreign tariffs, as usual they were ignorant of the fact that the US government used to operate 100% on them and even better than the ever did by stealing the Americans hard earned money. The tariffs have already proven to have been VERY effective at funding the federal government, and true to form there is most likely going to be a new national sales tax on NEW (non-essential) items only that will be split between the state where the transaction occurs and the federal government. The states that receive their share of this new tax will have to drop their existing sales tax and very possibly their Income tax, real estate taxes, and possibly more state taxes if they want their share of the new federal tax that will probably be @ 14%. You may have noted that some states are already in the process of eliminating their real estate taxes, which I see as further proof of this grand economic transformation ;-)) When I first heard of this part of The Plan, I was absolutely THRILLED at its brilliance for every reason that I could think of, in large part because it only applies to NEW items! You see, that makes it far more Constitutional because Americans can chose NOT to pay that tax if they buy used items and that supports freedom of choice ;-) It will also encourage the manufactures to quit making complete BS garbage that ends up in our landfills, AND it will encourage folks to buy old high-quality items and fix them up! I really like the old quality stuff, especially cars and trucks ;-) VERY cool! Anyway, I could ramble on, but I am sure that you get the idea and we do have to be patient to see just how this all unfolds. This 4th of July, or possibly later this year, COULD see some interesting things being announced... Unless the insanely treasonous Trump derangement clown show that has fallen for all of the lies and deceptions of the criminals of humanity destroy the astounding efforts that are already unfolding, which I doubt that they can because getting in the way and causing trouble now will likely result in them being imprisoned or killed, "we" (America) are.is just about to enter the greatest economic BOOM in history that will very likely never be exceeded again! Much of the entire world as well! So, it's worth a serious shot and if we are betrayed, we can always deal with that because Americans have a HUGE amount of power if they are forced to fight for their freedom and rights the hard way~! Have a great afternoon and make it safe & fun because that is important~!
Sincerely, Mike
Thank you for the info!
You are very welcome my friend~!
I suppose that I did attempt to impart some of my hard earned "information", however I believe that Jeff Tozzer actually deserves the credit for my simple "reminder" of his previously reported information right here on The Watchdog~! In short, "we" are all in this together as a team, as was the true original intent of The American Constitution and our founding fathers and mothers~! Ha! I am not trying to be "politically correct" in any way, because that perverted evil socialist nonsense personally disgusts me, but I have always known that our founding fathers also obviously had the founding mothers of those days who greatly contributed as well... Anyway, good job doing your part and keep up the great work~! With a LOT of hard work, a little good luck, and Gods help, we may just see some material improvements of our problems soon~! We can't afford to fail ;-)
Sincerely, Mike
God has patience. It seems we think alike and have the same goal in mind. It is an uphill battle but I am game.
HA~!
Well, after decades of my bumbling and fumbling, God is STILL there for me, so I am living proof that He has patience no end~! ;-) Yes, my friend, I do believe that "we" have the same goal in mind. After spending the first couple of decades in my life hearing the BS media constantly telling everyone that Americans are divided and all want different things, I realized that was ALL lies~! Yes, there are some extremists who have wild opinions, however the vast majority of us want the same basic things with only different opinions about how to achieve the common goals. That can be overcome by practicing good and honest communications techniques! HaZa~! That is obviously why the criminals of humanity, and their brainless "useful idiots" go WAY out of their way to attempt to divide all against each other~! These criminals and their evil Hobgoblin trolls "get off" by screwing with good folks, they make GOBZZZ of money that they derive from the disfunction and carnage that they foster, AND of course they have maintained control over the US and most of the entire world for a LOT longer than most currently realize... I just happen to have the perfect "trifecta" of sciences that can COMPLETELY reveal and analyze what these scumbags of the world are really up to = History, Economics, and of course Law~! I do not profess to "know everything" but I am reasonably proficient ;-) So, even when our patience is stretched, which at times mine sure is, we would be well advised to keep in mind that the vast majority of all of us really do want the same basic minimal things. Individual freedom, our rights, and to be left alone without the government or anyone else screwing with us~! That should not be too much to ask, but now we have been pushed too far by these criminals of humanity and many of us refuse to take the abuse anymore! Just say no~! ;-))
Have a beautiful day~!
Sincerely, Mike
We should all refuse to pay.
I'd rather the BOCC abstain from taking positions on other taxing districts because otherwise it becomes what we're seeing and that's a non-thinking good 'ol boy system. These people run in the same circles meeting others connected in positions of authority and it becomes a clique. We get the same junior high, non-thinking, group responses influencing voters devoid of crucially understanding the situation.
The BOCC rubber-stamping of everything that comes their way is a cultural problem. Why not just decline and let the taxing district do their own work?
The LWVs...pfft, unimpressed, as usual. They walk around with an undeserved cache yet the county website still has them listed as a resource.
More bad culture.
Consensus.
Good morning Patriots, Oh boy, where do I start? This has been happening long before 2024. I have personally known healthcare workers that have left there because of bad working conditions and morale issues. I am retired now, but I was in healthcare since 2011.
Under the current administration, I’m sorry to say this hospital is going to continue to implode. My own personal doctor left OMC and it took me a whole year to find him. Thank God I did because the practice that he was with never contacted me even though I contacted them for continued care. I was very lucky because I did not need his services at that time
But I have a rare condition that requires ongoing care. It’s a sad state of affairs because more and more people are going over to Jefferson healthcare which I am one of those people. I pray that they will get this figured out.
I wish everyone a beautiful day.
Another CC fix by more money means more money ill spent. How many times do we have to fail on this trap? Without fixes to the current problems the money is wasted. OMC has had leadership problems for some time and their fix was to hire a guy that closes hospitals for a living. We are continuing to be sold by the dems in charge that money solves the problems they created. It seems that again our county has failed us with some more smoke and mirrors. Where is monkey and the pig when we point out the failures of their leaders and have NO solutions?
jedj, the monkey and the pig will be along with the usual 'opinions' offering no solutions or facts. They are this substacks complaint department.
Ah yes, the classic ‘you offer no solutions’ line... usually deployed by someone who hasn’t recognized that step one of any solution is ‘stop making things up.’ Hard to build anything on a foundation of fiction, but I admire the confidence.
And as for being the ‘complaint department,’ I get why it feels that way.
When your entire feed is a conveyor belt of complaints, anyone pointing out basic reality probably does sound like customer service.
So send all your hard earned money into your cohorts in CC and see what kind of return on investment you get. Then at the end of the year you could join CCWD as a true solution embassador. PM you CANT be
honestly happy with where we are at in CC fiscally. If you are you are a blind , deaf, and not mute monkey. Thanks for the laugh I get at your no common sense comments.
They are quite amusing. It makes me laugh in all their effort to legitimize their views.😎
Same. You’re hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ddjGie8OVus
Hey he was masquerading maybe as a governor saying like cut waste but we still may need more tax money.
We tax-paying citizens are beyond fed up with being the County's perceived money tree while being sold on blatantly false promises of unicorns and fairy dust. I'll keep voting "no" on every new tax or tax increase because things will never change with the same people believing in the same fantasies.
Regarding the podcast section on the Safe Parking program and questions regarding it:
At last week’s Homelessness meeting, which I observed via Zoom, the public was told—at length—that questions do not necessarily require answers. This was stated by the same individual, Viola Ware, who recently received a 60 year proclamation at a Board of County Commissioners meeting. That posture is troubling. When public funds are involved, the public not only has the right to ask questions; the public has the right to receive clear, accurate answers.
During the same meeting, Joe Cress from Trinity United Methodist Church provided an update on the Safe Parking Program and repeatedly referenced OLYCAP’s involvement. He described tasks performed by OLYCAP staff, including physically moving barriers for church volunteers. Yet at the Commissioners meeting, Ms. Ware stated that Safe Parking “was not their program,” that it was strictly between the County and the church, and that she did not know where the funds go. It is correct that the grant award is between the church and the county but OLYCAP receives most of the funding.
Public records show that the majority of Safe Parking funds flow directly to OLYCAP payroll. Timesheets dating back to last August 2025, list OLYCAP staff being paid under this program, with Ms. Ware—the same individual who stated she did not know where the money goes—approving those timesheets. That is not a minor detail. It directly contradicts the claim that OLYCAP had no knowledge of the funding.
The timing also raises legitimate questions. Approximately a year ago, Commissioner French noted that OLYCAP funding was being reduced and staff would need to be reassigned. Shortly thereafter, document fee funding became available, a new program was created, and some OLYCAP staff were placed on that program—even during periods when there were no clients. This pattern reasonably prompts questions about whether these funds were used to backfill organizational shortfalls, which would constitute supplanting.
The public has been patient. We have asked respectfully. We have submitted written questions. We have attended meetings. And yet we still do not have clear answers.
These are not accusations. These are documented inconsistencies that require clarification. The public deserves accurate information, and the County has a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer and fee based funds are used as intended.
The OMC problem is multifaceted. I assigned 1/3 of the blame to Washington DC and the unprofitable reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid. Another third of the blame goes to the Clallam County economy. OMC’s payor mix has increased from 70% Medicare/Medicaid to roughly 85% today. If we had more living wage jobs with private insurance, our largest employer, OMC, would be profitable. Lastly, 1/3 of the blame is OMC‘s fault. Management let expenses outpace revenues as productivity metrics showed meaningful underutilization of hospital providers. Most notably someone in management admitted that only three of 80 providers were meeting the industry average benchmark set at the 50th percentile for productivity of similar types of hospitals. Running a hospital is very very challenging. The fixed costs are incredibly high to provide such a wide range of services. The issues over high turnover and staff morale are very typical for turnaround situations. I actually praise the interim CEO and CFO for being bold and demanding change. It was long overdue. Net/net, let’s all make sure when we’re finger pointing and looking to blame someone that we are reminded of the three key reasons, yet only one of them can be controlled by OMC’s management.
So, what we have here is a circular firing squad. Your business perspective gives factual causes for our predicament, but the overall frustration and anger from the tax paying citizenry is that we were lied to AGAIN!
This entire community (and perhaps the state of WA) has a spending problem. We somehow believe that primarily relying on tax funded programs (for government, roads, hospitals, non profits, social services, etc) is economic development. At some point, the only sustainable economic model is steady growth with from a balance of private companies offering living wage jobs. Instead, we have a balance of "protectionists and victims". I can see this in the culture of City Hall, where the the average wage is meaningfully higher than the average citizen. All they want to do is protect the status quo and make it to their own retirement.
Layers and layers of spending.
Watch in action at the BOCC every Monday & Tuesday, no real accountability, no “NAYS”. Throwing more money at an issue fixes nothing. When you keep doing the same thing you get the same results.
When groups decide issues with consensus, this 'no nays' is what we get.
"Consensus refers to a general agreement among members of a society or political entities regarding fundamental values, goals, and the rules of the political game. It doesn’t necessarily mean unanimous agreement, but rather a widespread acceptance that prevents major, ongoing conflict over core issues."
This comment gets to the root of most problems in PA
According to the world wide web…
Clallam County has 962
non-profit organizations.
This is concerning.
This is where we need to direct our energy and thinking abilities.
Are we running a city, a county or a charity foundation/corporation?
Where is the BIG money going that California retirees brought with them?
Pickle ball courts?
Trails?
Non-Profits?
118,000$Free Parking spaces?
We can’t keep a “county” without a stand-up Hospital and NON-Cultic schools.
Without good governance from the people getting involved, we loose.
While I agree with most of your statements, earlier you stated " 1/3 of the blame to Washington DC and the unprofitable reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid." Isn't 'profit' also 'economic development'?
OMC is essentially losing money on 85% of revenues. Name any business where that is a financially sustainable business model. The only profit is from private insurance (which essentially subsidizes the the low Medicare and Medicaid payouts). The other issue is simply classification... If OMC shrinks to what is called a critical access hospital, then as if by magic, the feds then reimburse 101% of costs. Net/net, OMC's designation puts them at a structural disadvantage to all other healthcare providers in this community. Jefferson and Jamestown all have higher reimbursement rates and can thus "afford" to attract and retain staff. The best case scenario is that the interim CEO finds a way to tread water while DC makes changes. He is doing that now by attempting to drive productivity (more revenue over a fixed cost base), but cutting capex and delaying payments to suppliers is not viable long term. If OMC has to shrink down to a critical access hospital, I predict there will be hundreds of more jobs lost (e.g. they would have to close the operations in Sequim as the current rules don't allow two critical access hospitals to be too close together - and Jefferson is not that far away). I further worry that even more people leave the community because of a lack of healthcare services.
Thank you for this explanation, although I don't understand some of it; the 'critical access' scenario does sound alarming!
What is worrisome is that Social Security and Medicare funds are drying up and may be gone in 6 years and Congress refuses to look at life support options. Hang on us old farts!
Mr. Pelayo, please do a podcast episode with Jake Seegers, I would love to hear you 2 conversate over Port Angeles. Please consider. Thank you
I have done a podcast with Joe DeScala. I also have my presentation to EDC online. Here are the links:
1.) https://heypapodcast.com/2024/11/10/steven-pelayo/
2.) https://youtu.be/lRHz9qEJmuQ
Appreciate the perspective, especially around demand for changes. Do you think it had to come at the cost of a costly interim CEO?
The economy. A massive influence here that on the heals of Colleen McAleer's resignation is leaving me with less hope that our county has a plan to lead vs being tail whipped by circumstances.
I don't think the Interim CEO was "costly". The savings he implemented in Supplies alone more than covered his cost. Even more important, timing has value... had OMC brought him in earlier, maybe we wouldn't have lost $70 million over the past four years? Finally, I think people need to realize what the market rate is for a CEO. This is from ChatGPT...
"Yes. In the context of a hospital like Olympic Medical Center—roughly 1,400 employees, about $600 million in gross revenue (approximately $300 million net patient revenue), and operating as a rural standalone public hospital—I estimate the following:
Position Base Salary Total Annual Compensation*
Typical rural community hospital CEO $500k–$800k $700k–$1.2M
Strong turnaround CEO with proven track record $700k–$1.0M $1.0M–$1.8M
Top-tier national health system CEOs $1M+ $2M+
*Including incentives, retirement contributions, deferred compensation, and other benefits.
Key points from our discussion
CEO compensation is small relative to the size of the organization. Even a $1 million compensation package is only about 0.17% of a $600 million revenue base.
For an organization that has lost roughly $70 million since 2022, paying more for an exceptional turnaround executive could easily be justified if that leader improves results by several million dollars annually.
Rural standalone hospitals generally pay less than large urban systems, but they often need to offer a premium to attract experienced executives willing to relocate and tackle difficult financial situations.
In comparison, former OMC CEO Darryl Wolfe earned roughly $280k base salary, plus incentive opportunity, car allowance, and benefits, bringing total compensation into the $325k–$400k range. That level is considerably below what many comparable hospital CEOs earn.
I also noted that if OMC were recruiting a high-caliber turnaround CEO with demonstrated success at restoring finances and improving productivity, a package in the neighborhood of $900,000–$1.5 million total compensation would not be unreasonable and could represent a very attractive return on investment if the executive succeeded in returning the hospital to profitability."
We couldn't clear cut enough trees to pay for all the bureaucracy.
The futility of it all has worn me down. The more I dig, the more I see the lack of financial literacy, leadership and even integrity in City Hall. I am giving this place until 2030 to find a skilled leader that will inspire and execute a turnaround growth strategy (btw, Port Angeles and OMC woes are really one in the same). It is most telling to me to watch when we do see someone willing to invest in our community, the local government/tribe/community fights it, or tries to extort as much as they can. (e.g. timber harvests, Amazon, the upcoming buyer for the McKinley mill site, Platypus lawsuit, Brix Marine project, Seabrook, Dupar downtown condos, tribe hotel, etc.).
The sea level rise map, Ron Allen standing in front of Hotels advocating for salmon on a 15 percent grade, Oppression Olympics, Communists ribbon cutters that take over not only libraries but government positions.
When its good density, the sea level/Tsunami issues do not exist. When the Port wants to give away land to a tribe that the NOAA map says will be under water in 20 years, the sea level rise map is non-existent.
Its all about holding Clallam County's nose like Dr. Turner until the land can be reclaimed.
Hate those "ifs" 😬.
I get your point.
What about our organic economy, or lack thereof.
We are stuck in a "nostalgia" loop. People want to return to the "good ole days". I am sorry, but timber and marine will never be as important for this economy as it was prior to the 1990s. We must adapt. Grant writers should not be the fastest growing job in our community. Despite the "anti growth" and "you are not from here" attitudes, we must grow and spread the financial burden among more citizens. If you go back to Economics 101, we are witnessing the Laffer Curve in real time. People are voting with their feet and moving. This will accelerate the economic tailspin until a real leader steps up and attitudes change.
Most of us that have relocated here did so for the RURAL life style. It too us 40 years to be able to do so. Many move here thinking they want RURAL living, and then start to miss the amenities of URBAN living. The OMC began building as if it were an URBAN facility, relying on government support, expanding beyond its ability to pay for it. We have built a socialized medicine society, expecting government to pay for cradle to grave support. You're right, that's the first third you stated. Then the second third was perpetuated by the stagnation of the local economy through excessive regulation and lack of infrastructure to allow for expansion. The third was brought on by poor management and over expansion of the Hospital into a more urban entity, offering more than the economy can support. Putting the cart before the horse. Just a thought.
100%. OMC once was consistently profitable. It is mostly due to a mix shift in jobs (more part time/seasonal), and demographics (we have more people over 70 than under 18). If we could somehow regain 1000 living wage jobs previously lost with private insurance AND they all used OMC, the hospital would be financially viable. As a reminder McKinley was 200-300 jobs. Westport is down 425 jobs, and now OMC is on its way to shrink probably by 200-300. It just shocks me that the losses are not acknowledged and instead we fight any growth in an attempt to protect a rural life style. We seem to forget that Clallam is not immune to global inflation. Growth is REQUIRED to survive. All of our woes can be traced to anemic population, wages, and job growth.
And all it took was a COVID pandemic to upset the delicate unbalanced socialism.
I am pushing back on the notion that its bad returning to "good ole days". While log exportation and clear cuts for an economy is not a sound strategy, forest management and manufacturing local products from that resource stream is absolutely a viable economy for this region. It would be a shrewd pivot for our region.
To continue to let forest burn up into "beneficial microbes" when we should be managing it for a local economy is not a sound strategy.
Our economy should absolutely be based in part on forest management. Its the log exportation "good ole days' we can spare.
200 jobs managing forest/ 200 jobs manufacturing wood products. That's a sound economic strategy. Lots of income trickling in in the form of sales taxes.
I am all for more timber related jobs - so long as they don't leave us with toxic waste sites like Rayonier. I simply want more diversification into other industries too. More manufacturing - possibly leveraging marine and the free trade zone designation. More remote jobs (earn money elsewhere but spend local). Imagine if Microsoft had a Olympic Peninsula Research Lab with 500 high paying jobs? We need all of these just to offset the losses we have seen. Instead, the community likes to fight anyone that tries to invest here.
There needs to be a pivot from the clear cut and longshoreman days, to the forest management resource harvest and manufacturing days.
The system is broken and the audits of OMC showed lack of control on spending. You
are missing the point. Poor hospitals make it hard for economic development. Unhappy employees at OMC are numerous and frustrated yet you applaud the current executives. Not a fix when you don’t have the bees making the honey. Downward spiral continues with all the excuses you have used. Our current county leaders are anti business true but we can change that. Try stop giving the local construction jobs to outside companies. We send about $300m in money to them this past year alone in school and medical projects. Local economy would flourish if the revenue stayed in CC. Where is Frenchie and CO working on this? We need more than a band aid!
I just remembered doing some research a year or so ago about the average employee turnover rate for public hospitals. I was shocked when I heard it was more than 20%. I remember that OMC actually has a lower attrition rate but it’s still boggles my mind that they need to hire 250 to 300 people every year. And that’s just the normal rate. Now that I think about it, I’m actually surprised that employee turnover hasn’t been significantly worse given all the rumors of management changes impacting employee morale. Lastly, I’m actually surprised that the hospital has not done any layoffs. Employee salary and benefits represent more than 2/3 of patient revenue. The quickest way to get to breakeven would be a massive reduction in force or layoff. They have not done that. Instead they’ve let the natural attrition lower overall headcount. That’s actually pretty impressive. I still don’t rule out them having to do something more aggressive in the future, but I’m actually going to praise the interim CEO for keeping the turnover or attrition rate relatively in line with historical trends and industry averages.
Very off topic but IMO important child safety info:
Today's PDN front page features a photo of a man in front of a toy store in PT with his cute little attractive to children R2D2 robot. The caption says his name is Frank Reuter. That's his wife's last name. His name is actually Frances Barevich (unless he legally changed it) and although (because WA is so predator friendly) he is not required to publicly register here, he was convicted in another state of multiple counts of child porn, some involving children under the age of 8. Horrific stuff.
You can find some case info here https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/u-s-v-barevich-894015007 , OR on the "Clallam County Offenders" FB page post 7/23/23 https://www.facebook.com/clallamcountyoffenders/posts/-francis-frank-barevich-convicted-sex-offender-barevich-is-affiliated-with-olymp/589889583303893/ OR by searching his name + "arrest". He is very tech savvy and has managed to get most content about him removed but enough is still out there. Surely the toy store he was in front of did not know who he really is? but PDN putting this pedo on the front page with a toy hanging out in front of a toy store makes him look acceptable to be around children🤢🤮👹
OMG! Susie, you are always there to protect CC. Thank you!
“Is it live or is it Memorex?” Is it a Façade? It’s all real to people until the truth is exposed, thank you Susie, you would think PDN would have done THEIR homework before promoting a pedophile. Goes to show PDN standards of reporting.
It gets worse. Apparently he now has a small toy company and travels to festivals and toy stores around the region.
Susie, I can't get over children being a second thought, it use to be protecting our children was always NUMBER ONE! Christ Almighty what is happening? Jake Seegers places family happiness in his goals and it shows in his involvement with his family. We need to swing the pendulum back to family values and safety. Thank you for everything you do ; )
OMG...Brings back creepy memories of my hometown, in the 1960's where a known pedo (known to children and other pedos anyway) owned the largest toy store in county, and never got 'caught.'
we need to load up and “beat” evil!!
it’s bad.
- punch it in the face!💥
Thank you for this very sad and disturbing disclosure about the recent extraordinary exodus of personnel from our local community hospital system, Patriot Jeff Tozzer~! I know that you and the good folks of The Watchdog, as well as the local community, take no pleasure in this very serious problem, but the first step in successfully solving any problem is identifying it. As an "ancient" personnel executive myself I am "hard wired" to want to solve this problem to get the OMC on a track of success~! The most important next step is to cut through the mountain of conveniently orchestrated paperwork, and constant deceptive reasoning and rationale, to get to the root of this massive loss of hospital staff. As I read through all of the specific job classifications of those employees who have "departed" from the OMC I can clearly see that the list is widespread across all of the hospital job positions. This in and of itself strongly suggests that the root of the problem is directly connected to failures in management at the highest level, however it would be unfair, incompetent, and premature to fail to perform a thorough investigation into this matter, rather than to proceed to take any actions based upon assumptions. This investigation and analysis should not take more than a month or two, assuming that there is no effort to interfere with it. In short, any competent hospital director worth their salt would need to discover the reason WHY these 180+ employees no longer work at the OMC~! t would be expected to discover a wide variety of reasons for this dramatic loss of personnel; however, I have never seen a case like this where the majority of such departures didn't have a common denominator~! What is the REAL reason that SO many presumably competent employees left their jobs at the OMC~? If there is a serious systemic issue, which I strongly suspect, then simply attempting to fill all of these job vacancies will NEVER work short OR long term and no one (especially the patients) will be well served and happy. Yes, there are those of us in the community who could see through the lies and deceptions of The League of Women Voters and others who had absolutely no business pushing the outrageous elevated tax theft for a clearly failing hospital system, in the usual incompetent failed rational of throwing more & more money at a problem without first doing any reasonable research into the root of the problem. However, for the time being we would be better off focusing upon "saving the patient" (the hospital) and dealing with the other issues at a later time. I know that my words will mostly fall upon deaf ears of those with no tolerance for reasonable and rational common-sense solutions at this very odd dysfunctional time of American history, but someday when enough of the folks in our local community have suffered maybe there will still be a few of us remaining who have the experience to actually solve problems. Unfortunately, tragically, there has been an ugly trend in the American population to vilify, demonize, and otherwise eliminate those of us who actually have a great many decades of successful problem-solving skills, and the resulting "Brain Drain" has already proven to have had a devastating effect all across the US. I know that there are numerous folks in the younger generations who have talent and good intentions, however this insane ignorance of the absolute value of experience has resulted in a tremendous number of these problems that our society now faces. Again, I am reminded of that wise heroic lone fireman in the glorious old movie "It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World", where he does his very best to warn the greedy emotionally hysterical people NOT to climb up the ladder all at the same time~! Ha! Ironically, in the final scene ALL of those who foolishly chose to ignore that fireman, who was the only voice of experience and reason, ended up in the hospital~! History repeats itself, only because people keep repeating the same foolish mistakes~! Stay as healthy as possible, because those of us who understand my words here know damn well that things won't be improving at the OMC anytime soon, because precious few will listen to the obvious warnings right in everyone's face today~!
Sincerely, Mike
Our community is reaching a point where the economic pressures can no longer be ignored. In recent months, I have watched several long‑standing small business owners—people who have invested their lives and livelihoods here—pack up and leave. Another one announced this week that they are “voting with their feet.” When local entrepreneurs begin relocating, it is not a political statement; it is a clear economic warning. They are leaving because the cost of operating here has outpaced the benefits of staying.
We cannot continue relying on short‑term grants to prop up long‑term obligations. Grants were never intended to serve as a permanent operating model for local government or nonprofit systems. Yet year after year, we see the same cycle: new grants, new programs, expanded administrative overhead, and no measurable improvement in outcomes. When the grant funding runs thin, the burden shifts directly to residents through higher taxes and fees.
This approach is not sustainable. A shrinking private‑sector base cannot support an ever‑expanding public and nonprofit infrastructure. As more small businesses close or relocate, we lose jobs, sales tax revenue, community anchors, and future investment. Meanwhile, the financial demands on remaining residents continue to grow.
If we want a stable, healthy local economy, we must prioritize policies that strengthen the private sector, reduce dependency on temporary funding streams, and ensure that every publicly funded program demonstrates clear, measurable results. Our residents deserve a fiscal model that is transparent, accountable, and sustainable—not one that drives families and businesses away.
We cannot continue with the same model and "leadership" must change their stagnent ideas that have been in place for many years here. Vote not with your feet, but vote wisely to change the direction of this county.
given the amount of crap going on with our Department of Revenue (adding sales tax where it never existed before..with "service" and "creatives"... I'm ready to leave, too.
Don’t worry - the new board was supposed to be the saviors right? Put all of this on them. They asked for it, give it to them.
Great public comments! I really liked the one (forget his name) about Dr. Berry violating her position under state codes by her comments in the board of health meeting.
The recordings you played from the public comments that pushed for the hospital tax increase that had to do with care for babies and moms: there are more deaths in this area than births. Population only increases out here due to in-migration and people moving here, not because of births. That’s not to say births don’t matter, but that demographic fact tells me more services are needed for people who aren’t babies or giving birth.
I looked at the jobs link you included; in the ‘providers’ category of job openings, only one out of 18 was for a nurse midwife; the rest had to do with specialities outside of birthing. Maybe they’re loaded up on birthing providers and don’t need to hire more than one right now, but the hospital obviously needs more providers for clients who aren’t giving birth and that is the largest demographic out here.
Meanwhile in Jefferson County, our neighbors, seem to be running a great hospital, and by gosh Mickey Mouse the headlines in today's The Leader says "Wildlife refuge transfer ignites county." Gwarsh Mickey, do you think these folks listen to their constituents?
Begs the question: Why? Could it be the deteriorating living conditions in Clallam county?
This country relies on checks and balances. West coast states no longer have them.
Who stands to win as Jefferson County Hospital expands and who stands to win if OMC closes its doors?
Somebody oppressed and who is not too male and pale..
Loggers and bloggers need not apply.