It's apparent Darryl Wolfe resigned because he is an utter failure and too cowardly to publicly face what he has done. This will begin to happen at every government facility in Clallam County. There are incompetent people making hundreds of thousands of dollars in charge of every government entity in the county; schools, hospitals, parks, roads, refuges, elections, taxes, governing. All of it run by incompetence and greed. This is why the tribe is taking everything over, they are the one entity that has a competent person in charge.
In the real world, when your business fails there is a huge degree of shame that goes along with it. All of these leaders need to be shamed as their incompetency is put on display. There is no tax payer funded executive job that Darryl Wolfe should ever be allowed to have again.
It also appears that the nursing staff is woefully under trained at OMC. Many of the violations have to do with basic nursing. Most of the nurses there have come up through the PC program so this makes me deeply question the program that Peninsula College is running. Another government program exhibiting incompetent results.
Incompetent managers lead to incompetent procedures. People, performing the work, nurses, may be competent in their skills, but if not presented with competent administrative procedures and oversight, may not have the necessary guidance to document properly. There is a hierarchy, newly graduated nurses need to learn and gain experience, become competent through years of practice, become head nurses and lead others, just as in any other industry or profession. It is management’s job to ensure standards of performance are set and monitored. The mismanagement of this hospital is glaringly apparent. Let’s work together to push for immediate fixes.
There are OMP clinic managers and supervisors who have never been more than medical assistants before their promotion. No college degrees and no significant clinical experience — but they’re supposed to manage BSNs and MDs.
Definitely agree, my first thought when I read the nurse competency issue was that they lacked adequate orientation and supervision. Every piece of OMC is understaffed. In such situations in any organization, new employees, regardless of level of training, face a sink or swim challenge.
I believe that modern corporations have ESG ( environmental, social governance ). When I was employed I noticed that many of the mid level managers performed simple tasks unrelated to mission of the company. The corporation couldn't terminate them because the quota would drop along with the score and investors would flee. I was passing by one of the cubicles and the "manager" who had no crew to manage was using crayons to produce art in a coloring book.
You are bang on about the systemic incompetence and corruption...at every level and every institution...the hospital is harming and probably killing people, or at least increasing their chances of mortality. We're better off taking our chances without it...but I'm sure it will be pegged as too big to fail and hundreds of millions will be spent trying to resurrect it...under current 'leadership', this county is doomed!😎
I agree. I’m inclined towards no money or bailouts. This is an amazing opportunity for a large hospital system on the mainland to gain a presence here and promote a different kind of “remote work”. The downside is that scenario has potential to bring a LOT of people to the peninsula.
That incompetence at the core of why we have to end local management of OMC. There are plenty of employees whose greatest expertise was having friends and family already employed there — and being PA or Sequim natives.
Darryl Wolfe was hired in 2006 as a "financial analyst". At the time his father in-law was the main pediatrician at OMC and his mother in-law is well known in the community for throwing her weight and $ around. Currently the Boy's and Girl's club in PA is named after her for her role in fundraising. Darryl Wolfe's wife currently works at OMC. It is indeed nepotism all around.
Former CEO Eric Lewis went to work for the Washington State Hospital Association. I doubt they’d be able to bring him back, even if his one job was to steer OMC into a takeover partnership.
I believe the person you're referring to is the Mayor. The first listed learning outcome of the program she directs is to "holistically assess the biopsychosocial-spiritual-cultural dynamic needs of the client".
What does that even mean and why are they being trained to look at clients instead of patients?
wow... nice word "biopsychosocial" means to consider biological, psychological and social factors and their complex interactions in understanding health, illness, and health care delivery....
Another case where words mean more than actions. Makes sense now.
Isn't this exactly the opposite of what we, as a "under god" country are supposed to embrace.. "let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth"
I looked at the nursing program at PC when it first got going and decided to pass. They provide a decent beginning level educational foundation for sure, but only for a few semesters. Once the students complete the foundational studies they do their last year training at OMC. When Karen Hart broke her hip in winter of 2001, the microbiologist from OMC was hired to take over her classes so the next crop of nursing students could finish the class and get hired on. I was taking microbiology that year as well as all the nursing students. While I opted out of finishing until the next year when Karen returned literally ALL of the nursing students took the last semester with OMC's Penny (forget her last name). None of them were higher than "C" students during our first semester yet many that I spoke with at end of term had miraculously finished with A's and B's and were bragging about how Penny made it so easy on them. I was a 4.0 and super glad I waited for Professor Hart to return because, unlike most of the nursing students I was there to learn, not to get my foot in the door at OMC.
I had learned that OMC was pretty much a "C" student itself. Over the years I lived in PA I had to have treatment there twice. And, twice, I ended up having to go to Seattle to have the damage done from their treatments re-treated. I haven't stepped foot in that hospital since. They are notoriously inept. The doctors and nurses at Swedish and Harborview openly concur. This happened between 2000 and 2002 and from what I gather the dysfunction there is worse than ever. We should sell off all their properties and buy a couple helicopters so our EMT's can transport folks to Seattle for emergencies
That is a wonderful idea. I have been to both Swedish and OMC and the comparison is dramatic. Medicare will cover a helicopter ride if the malady is "life threatening". If not there is also an insurance plan that does cover the helicopter ride.
Shame on you. This is an extremely unfortunate situation. Your attitude does not help one little bit. You have no idea how hard it is to go to work as a nurse and jump through hundreds of the most ridiculous hoops required by the federal government that interfere with actual patient care. It is a regulatory nightmare. Patient care suffers because of the burdensome regulations, not because of a lack of caring by the staff. Covid co-opted everything and OMC has been a rudderless ship since then.
No one is questioning the caring. I am questioning the training and lack of management. No excuses matter anymore. This community is about to lose a hospital because of nursing violations. Shame on them.
Leave PC out of this. Those nurses all have to pass the stringent state boards to be licensed as nurses. They don't pass a test at PC and become nurses at OMC.
Yes, All the nurses have to pass the "stringent" test. Yet here we are, so many basic nursing violations that the hospital may have to shut down. Who's to blame? Management? Nurses? Training? The cause of incompetence lies somewhere and to leave PC out of the blame completely is unserious. The PC program was set up specifically to address the nursing shortage at OMC. The majority of nurses working there have gone through the program. CMS has proven that OMC has a dangerous problem with basic nursing. PC to blame.
A nurse is only as good as the system they work within. A bad nurse can cause a problem, but OMC is experiencing a systemic problem far beyond the education they receive at PC.
I actually disagree. There are some incredible nurses that work in terrible systems and there are terrible nurses that work in great systems. The two are not exclusive. Properly trained nurses would create a culture of great nursing. I know for a fact that the culture at OMC is not a culture of greatness, but a culture of "just pay me". That comes from management and training. PC trained them.
They can be woke and still graduate skilled people. But apparently they are graduating nurses who do not even know how to take basic notes or check in on patients.
PC should be the next government agency that gets a compliance visit. They are graduating dangerously incompetent nurses.
Hopefully the incompetence witnessed has to do with individual workers' paradigms though. This last year the only nurses I thought weren't doing proper follow-up were for short stay upstairs. That was only 2 people, so maybe it was just a bad day for them, and I get that the patient was delusional. I think the ER does a good job, it's just the prescription of opiates for smaller things that is a bit of a red flag to me.
The ER is atrocious. Most of the ER staff is contract workers and severely understaffed. My wife had to go there once and we were there for 6 hours. She never went to an ER room and was treated totally in the lobby. Even private questions were asked right there in front of and within hearing of others waiting for treatment. It was horrible.
I was there last April in pretty bad shape. Admitted by ambulance so got put in a room right away about 7:30pm. Lots of testing and an IV medication started but then I had to lay there (on their gurney bed) til about 3:00AM before finally being transferred upstairs to a hospital room. The last 4 hours of that 7.5 hours felt like forever! I kept asking WHY it was taking so long but the young guy in charge there couldn’t give me an answer.
I went there with 103 fever and a horrible infection. I got to the ER at 7am and was still sitting in the ER at 4pm and they finally took me back at 4:45. Since living in Sequim off & on since the 80s and having been admitted to the OMC hospital probably 5 times in my life for a serious blood clotting issue, I almost died in their care twice, not due to my condition but due to mistakes they made or terrible care.
I saw a woman miscarry in the waiting room at OMC ER after waiting hours. I was prescribed a medication that would have been very dangerous if I'd taken it. Walked out of there and drove to St Michael's, where there is real medical care. I'll never go to OMC, even though I'm forced to support them through taxes. They're unusable.
Oh wow that is terrible. I have a lot of clients who are 60+, they go to Silverdale for care instead, and I take my girlfriend to Silverdale for her leg. I guess I forgot about that whole side of things... I was only thinking of what I personally witnessed when I commented earlier.
I was also there once, spent 9 hours waiting for different areas of treatment. I asked at the front desk of the ER if it was exceptionally busy because I had been there so long and got a "no not really". I just shrug my shoulders and shake my head at health care in the US!
WHAT? Prescription of Opiates for "smaller things?" I have been to the ER maybe twice in the last handful of years and was post-op screaming in pain once and had 16 blood clots in my thigh another time and felt like my leg was being pinched off my body and they refused any sort of pain medication. I have never had an addiction issue, haven't been on any sort of pain medication or anything for a decade and they treat you as if your a criminal if you are in serious pain. Also, I almost lost my life due to that ER. The ER is the WORST.
What is a Medic 1 utility charge? Be aware that if Olympic Ambulance gets to you before the county ambulance, your insurance won't cover the private am bulance.
Saying PC is WOKE is the most ignorant statement I have almost ever read. Instead of believing what you have been indoctrinated to believe by the ultra right - woke means aware of the world and what is happening around you- not what the Trump regime has warped your mind to believe.
words change meaning all the time. Nice used to mean stupid or foolish, now it means pleasantly agreeable. Awful used to mean "oh wow, that's amazing" now it means bad or unpleasant. Bully used to be a term of endearment, now it's a term of abuse. Gay used to mean joyful, now it means attracted to same-sex. Myriad used to mean to have exactly 1000 items of something, now it's just a bunch. Naughty used to mean you "had naught" or NOTHING, then it became "evil" now it's just a little misbehaved. Quell used to mean "to kill" now it's just to subdue. Divest used to mean "to undress" now it's just to sell an investment. Meat used to just mean food to eat, now it's animal flesh. Black used to be a color associated with mourning, now it describes an ancestry which includes a lot of the pigment melanin, that protects skin from harmful UV rays.
You have to keep up with words and their meaning.... our language is living and evolving. Woke used to mean being aware, but now it's a pejorative to criticize those who are overly sensitive, and a bit deranged.
Your rundown of language evolution is spot-on; really engaging to read. That said, I think there’s a deeper issue here. The problem isn’t just that woke changed meaning, it’s how it’s being co-opted as a catch-all to dismiss things people don’t agree with or don’t want to understand. Words evolve, yes...but they can also be weaponized. When woke becomes shorthand for ‘anything that challenges my worldview,’ it loses all meaning and shuts down actual discourse. That’s not linguistic evolution, it is intellectual evasion. So while you're totally right about etymology, there's also power in how words get twisted, especially in public dialogue.
That is true. Everyone seems to be butchering the language these days. One side says "nazi, king, despot, tyrant" the other side says "TDS" "Woke" and "whack-a-doodle". We've all forgotten how to have a polite discourse, and listen to the other side.
I don't believe the comparison though is symmetrical. One party in the dispute is considered evil and the other side silly and trivial. What happened to the Nazi members? Because they were evil they were executed. What is the treatment of a woke individual? They experience verbal ridicule, but nobody wishes their death. The outcomes are entirely different.
I don’t think we’ve ALL forgotten, Mimi 😉 I rarely see anything other than respectable interactions inside this forum & I’d personally like to thank you for your contributions here & everywhere else you circulate. You are a breath of fresh air!!!
don't forget "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me" ...another person's feelings are THEIR responsibility, not mine, not yours.
I believe that comprehension of a complex subject is also governed by emotion. I was in a study group many years ago and one of the students was angry that the concept of God was not included in the curriculum. She was visibly upset where as non of the other members cared. The subject was important to her. Emotion, Evolution, the Will and biology tamper with our brains. That is why defense mechanisms exist. They protect our appraisal of ourselves even if we are worthless. I bet the county commissioners would all grade their performance not upon an objective standard but through the Lens of a very strong narcissistic "id".
I first noticed the term "woke" when the recalcitrant football player knelt when The National Anthem was played. It was a display of contempt directed at a country that person hated. LOL I can think of one word popular when Mark Twain novels were published that is now so vile and offensive that uttering it could create an immediate execution. In Orwell's famous book the more advanced members of society were actively reducing their vocabulary. Words are symbols for thoughts and thoughts can become oppressive.
The evil process has occurred gradually as if the rage has been simmering for many centuries. Anti racism was a noble pursuit but now it is tantamount to anti White though the angriest and most vocal grievance group I have experienced has been the feminists. I don't understand why. I support the concept of equality but why does it so often transform into vitriol? BTW the question is rhetorical. We all know why.
Feminism FAILED. The whole thing was basically for women to emulate emasculated men and treat other women with great contempt and shove them further down. (No hand-up in corporate America, from other women.)
It made sense when I found out that women were the ones who deemed other women witches --- pointed and whispered. We aren't really a very cooperative group, at least NOT in this culture.
You do get awfully defensive Miss Shawna. There's a lot of truth to saying PC is woke, especially if you've taken any of their classes. They manage to fit an awful lot of woke nonsense in regardless of subject matter. Some kids are so accustomed to indoctrination, they don't even recognize it. Pitiful.
The indoctrination is not knew. I took a politically correct class in college and earned an easy A. LOL The professor believed that the male and female brains are identical. Any differences such as those involving the sex drive and the warrior gene are the result of conditioning and nothing more. This was the blank slate theory proposed by the empiricist John Locke and later behaviorist BF Skinner.
I am unfamiliar with the specific situation mentioned here but I have watched the effect of "quota" hiring practices and it is devastating to any organization. I saw it in college and employment dating back to the year 1969 only in those days the terms used were equal opportunity employment and affirmative action. Originally the program was supposed to include mostly African Americans but now everyone is included except White males. Test scores were lowered for the "oppressed" groups. Footnote : The one non White group that was also persecuted at Harvard and Berkley was Asian.
I think Hubert Humphry's original plan was based upon a false premise. A fortune has been spent on public schools and test scores in math seem to decline more every year as the violence increases.
"Agree to disagree" is the signal for an end to a productive conversation, hinders any ability to understand the other person's point of view, and murders any attempt at a potential compromise. Its a word salad that is basically condescending and dismissive. Easy, but bad habit. In 60's slang, it's a "cop out". (Part of the white slacker trilogy: turn on, tune in, drop out.)
The phrase PC (meaning politically correct) has morphed into the appropriated "woke" and given a loaded meaning. It really has a lot to do with the way our media has fanned the flames of discord in our communities. And how history is not taught anymore.
HOWEVER, it had a long history of meaning, before the current one. It's clearly been co-oped, and the history confused. It was used in songs (i.e. Lead Belly's Scottsboro Boys in 1938 about four boys accused of raping a white woman -- "be a little careful when you go down there, stay woke, keep your eyes open").
In the 1940s Negro Mine Workers chanted, during a wage dispute. "We were asleep. But we will stay woke from now on."
William Melvin Kelley wrote in his NYT essay (1962) "If You're WOKE, You Dig IT" as a complaint about cultural appropriation, distortion of language, and idioms being taken by others. It USED TO MEAN an in-group signaling, to remind other black folk to be aware. Or as Elijah Watson traced the Black American colloquialism, "to be woke is to be black".
The NAACP has been very outspoken about their disgust with the word being co-oped and the Black history removed, and used to distort. How the meaning has changed, drastically, and so that it now connotes white virtue signaling.
How it's been used and misused (aka appropriated) by millennials and Gen Z, and a whole bunch of old white Boomers who have no clue is really disgusting. The original meaning has been so distorted, to the point where it is now a "white-to-white" signal of support for progressive causes.
It reminds me of the white kids at an Angela Davis Rally in the late 1960's thinking the black kids were saying "Right Arm" with a clenched fist, right arm pump.
Costco has a policy against making political contributions to any party or government, at any level. Individual employees, may, and these are not attributed to Costco.
Costco predominantly contributed to Democratic congressional and federal candidates, with 68.1% and 69% of the total amount of dollars, respectively, Open Secrets data shows.
Costco predominantly contributed to Democratic congressional and federal candidates, with 68.1% and 69% of the total amount of dollars, respectively, Open Secrets data shows.
"As a company, we respect the choices our members make, so we do not take positions on social issues, we are not involved in partisan politics, and we do not contribute money to political candidates or issues.
When you visit a Costco warehouse, we want you to feel welcome. And, after gathering much feedback, we have found that the majority of our members appreciate the fact that our atmosphere is devoid of politics—so we strive to keep it that way. Your comfort and satisfaction is our No. 1 priority. "
And we hire someone for $12K a week to slam the door shut in our faces? Sounds like Middle Ages "blood letting", using bloodsuckers to get every nickel out of the dying patient.
Where were you, where are you Ann Henninger? Am I missing something in the narrative? This problem has been present for how long? No airing in the PDN, SG, KMSQ, KONP!? Weren't human beings created with a tongue to speak up with?
No different than any other council, commission or school board member who is all gung ho at the beginning, promising transparency and a new voice. It never takes long for them to learn that if they’re going to get along on that governing body, they’ll have to play by the insider rules.
It's clear that these over-paid execs were more interested in the prestige, salary, 4-martini lunches, and other perks than doing their jobs. The lot of them should be fired immediately and replaced by competent leadership, with public oversight.
But, I see the writing on the wall: JKT will waltz in and change OMC to Jamestown Family Health. Could this have been what our silent commissioners had planned all along?
If Jamestown Tribe can save and improve OMC, as much as I don't like this solution, we will at least have a local, certified hospital. I doubt any other 'savior' will act quickly enough to make sure our good physicians don't leave us holding a cold stethoscope.
The physicians are already not our physicians. They 'belong' to a Wall Street consortium, Sound Physicians I believe. The only loyalty is to the corporation.😜
Physicians are insurance company employees. My doctor told me that if I accepted the Covid vaccine that I wouldn't succumb to Covid. I still got it. I wonder how many people died from the vaccine and not the disease. I read about a man who was killed in a motorcycle accident and the cause of death was officially Covid. LOL If money is concerned people will cheat and lie. It is human nature.
Just out of curiosity, what role would Dr. Allison Berry, public health officer for Clallam and Jefferson County (and, as a reminder, the savior to WA State in a 2 year moratorium on local resident's ability to live and work outside the home during the 'pandemic') have in this fiasco? This is a pitiful outcome for those members in the community who have a need for surgeries and immediate care. Obviously, you need to head to Port Townsend.
She won't be MIA if there's another pandemic. She will be out front pushing her Johns Hopkins liberal culture on everyone. She should be held accountable for the despicable things she pushed during Covid.
Yes. We make the drive to port Townsend whenever we can for hospital service. Its a better facility with good bedside manner.Unfortunately for my elderly mother, who is paralyzed from 2 strokes and has to rely on an ambulance for transport to and from the emergency room is unable to go to PT.
Perhaps if omc does shut down, they will have no choice but to take her to PT. At least then she will have a chance. It's been very disheartening as a full time caregiver to my mother to watch the incompetence and neglect that my mother has to repeatedly suffer from omc. I say good riddance. I hope that a larger entity with more ethics takes it over. But I wonder where that tax money will go.
I tried the links within the "WittKieffer" website at https://wittkieffer.com/ and the "for candidate" links give this error "Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the browser console for more information)." I am concerned about this company's validity. I am reaching out to the president of the BOC to offer whatever help I can with my abilities. It is a common story for rural and underserved communities to be leveraged at their expense to take what little resources they have and bleed them dry, and remove their ability to care for their people. Thank you, @jefftozzer and @ccwatchdog, for shedding light on all of this!
Monday, September 17, 1787: Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy? A republic, if you can keep it.”
In order to keep a representative government, it takes the involvement "of the people for the people," if that makes sense?
Oh good, I sent a message through LinkedIn to wittkieffer yesterday saying the links don’t seem to be working, so hopefully they fixed them. Still not optimal for the price tag, if that’s fair?
This feels as if it is just another of many calculated attempts to get people off the land on the peninsula. As you said towards the end of the podcast, if this goes through, people will leave the area. So much seems to be tying together.
Realtors take note. You'd best to be telling potential buyers (let's call it full disclosure) of this issue. Question, If a potential buyer for your home asks you, the seller directly, "Why are you selling?" must you be forthcoming in saying, "We lost our local hospital"!
The thing is, the only thing a homeowner is obligated to report/disclose when listing their home is the homeowner disclosure statement which deals directly with issues concerning their home. As far as researching the community, that is on the homebuyer and he/she must be extra discerning.
I hear you, but in this litigious society, just putting the thought out there. One turns on the TV and sees so many ads nowadays for attorneys that are hungry for your case. A hungry new attorney, hanging out a shingle, a case that that attorney can hit you in the gut with, and a sympathetic jury. Just sayin. Food for thought. Bet the tobacco companies never thought they'd lose a case.
This all started for me back around the time when wildfires were burning in Australia and in northern California. I was up in the middle of the night and a very discerning friend had posted something from Debra Tavarez from Stop The Crime about the plan to burn up Northern California. Which led me to really start researching agenda 21/agenda 2030. I kind of became similar to a dog with a bone during that period of time and would meet together with friends who knew what was up. When the 2020 things all started to happen, we would have frequent meetings also. very educated women. One of which did her whole career in the NCIS. Many people do not understand what is going on.
Wow!! Excellent, Jeff! This matter concerns everyone, and therefore, everyone needed to be told the truth a long time ago. OMC has not been compliant with CMS standards? My mind still can't understand why too many people let this go, unless this was the intent of some very unscrupulous high rollers. Gambling with people's health is of no concern when the odds favor their bets. Start naming names if you know them, or else we'll be going through this debacle all over again. Shameful!
Clallam County has way to many over paid woke libtards screwing everything up with their incompetent decisions.Their answer to all problems is just raise taxes & fee's.
I have a feeling this is like one of those nasty IRS letters that are more scare than bite. Receiving a letter from CMS regarding deficiencies is not uncommon, it is typically an opportunity for the hospital to rectify the issues, and termination from the Medicare program, though possible, is not the typical outcome. It does show poor effort in correcting the problem to get two in a row....thus the CEO resigned. He took over from Eric Lewis about 10 years ago. I say we bring Eric back! Mike Glenn, the current CEO of Jefferson Healthcare preceded Eric as OMC's CEO. Mike is also very good. I once was in a lease negotiation with Daryll and was ready to walk away due to some underhanded moves he tried to make....then Eric stepped in and took over. Kudo's to Jeff from spotlighting this problem. You rarely if ever see this sort of story in the local media as they are bought and paid by big corporations...just like congress, Hollywood and other mass media in this country. We need to awaken the rest of those stuck in the propaganda matrix. X is one of the best places to get national and international news.
Great job, Jeff! We can only hope that the state appoints an outside healthcare organization to run OMC or the commission board chooses a good one to have as a takeover partner. Both OMC and OMP are in desperate need of professional management at every level, from the top down to the individual departments. Can’t wait to see the OMC board meeting on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in Linkletter Hall (basement level of OMC).
I was delighted to see that OMC pulled down the sign for an upcoming pharmacy at the former Wells Fargo Bank building on Front St. My understanding is that they can’t even adequately staff their in-house pharmacy, let alone set up a new one for the public. They need to sell that building and many others; OMC has been stashing cash away in real estate for years (while they cry that they have no money) and it’s time for that practice to end.
too bad OMC can't turn all the various buildings around town that they own to create living spaces (and or tear down and build nice town homes). They own so many buildings....
I am a local physician employed by OMC and can confirm that everything in the above article is accurate. I especially sympathize with the letter from the unnamed local physician, who has summarized the situation far more eloquently than I intend to here.
To resort to a nautical metaphor: Truly, there has been no one at the helm, and now the ship is foundering on the rocks—thanks to years of reckless, unforgivable neglect.
Like the majority of the staff, I've watched this disaster unfold for years. My initial impression was that upper administration couldn't possibly be this incompetent and must be deliberately sabotaging the hospital for personal gain. Even laziness and poor judgment have limits, but here they've been exceeded in spectacular fashion. I've worked in multiple health systems—from private practices to large organizations—and never encountered such profound self-absorption, arrogance, and outright ignorance of the institution they claim to lead. In any other environment, this level of dysfunction wouldn't be tolerated; it would collapse under its own weight. Unfortunately, the peninsula's isolation has allowed this toxic incompetence to fester unchecked for far too long. Now, we're teetering on the brink of total collapse, and frontline employees have been screaming warnings all along—to deaf ears.
The truth is glaringly obvious: The hospital is hemorrhaging funds at an alarming rate. Patient satisfaction is in the gutter, with reviews that would shame any competent operation. General physicians and specialists are fleeing in droves, with no replacements in sight. Day after day, month after month, year after year, problems snowball—and what has been done? Absolutely nothing of substance. Physicians and staff grind themselves to exhaustion, delivering the best care possible to our community despite the chaos, only to burn out and leave. We've clung to hope that our so-called leaders would finally wake up, address the crises, or at least pretend to listen. Instead? Crickets. They bombard us with delusional, self-congratulatory emails boasting about phantom achievements, while the rot is visible to anyone with eyes. These shameless attempts to gaslight us have been a slap in the face to every dedicated staff member forced to endure them. The emperor has no clothes—and hasn't for years.
Out of sheer desperation, many non-administrative physicians (myself included) have approached the board with practical, often straightforward solutions—only to be dismissed, stonewalled, or outright ignored. At times, board members couldn't even be bothered to show up for scheduled meetings meant to address these pleas. This administration hasn't just failed to act; they've actively sabotaged progress, blocking others from implementing fixes they were too inept, too indolent, or too egotistical to attempt themselves. It's not mere negligence—it's a betrayal of the community we all serve.
I do have one faint positive amid the wreckage: I believe the new CPO, Allen Chen, has the potential to claw back from this abyss. In his first week, I walked into his office and laid bare these harsh truths. Rather than spouting hollow platitudes, he dove in headfirst. In just six months, he's achieved more tangible progress than the entire cadre of failures before him in the past two years—battling tooth and nail for the clinics, providers, and the community at large. He's primed to deliver real change, even at this eleventh hour, if the dead weight above him would stop obstructing and let him do the job he was hired for. It's a travesty that he's fresh on the scene and already tainted by association with these entrenched incompetents.
I'm long past fretting over decorum or job security. The physicians, nurses, and staff on the front lines are every bit as outraged and heartbroken as those reading this article. We are the community—and we've had enough of this preventable catastrophe.
Our community faces a crisis that could cost us Olympic Medical Center (OMC), Clallam County’s largest employer and our lifeline for healthcare. By August 15, 2025, OMC risks losing 85% of its funding due to Medicare pulling out over serious safety violations—issues like improper patient monitoring and missing medical orders. This follows years of mismanagement, a recent CEO resignation, and a 2024 tax hike that promised to save the hospital but hasn’t delivered.Despite this chaos, I know the dedicated doctors, nurses, and staff at OMC are heartbroken and working hard to serve us. But many are leaving, and we can’t afford to lose more. That’s why I’m reaching out about someone who gives me hope: Dr. Allen Chen, OMC’s Chief Physician Officer.Dr. Chen moved here earlier this year to take on this role, and he’s not part of the old guard. My husband and I recently faced a serious medical issue, and Dr. Chen went above and beyond, checking in with us and showing genuine care. In conversations, he’s shared his deep commitment to fixing OMC and restoring its reputation as a safe, trusted hospital. Unlike the executives named in a recent no-confidence letter, Dr. Chen is one of only two leaders not criticized for the hospital’s failures.I’m convinced Dr. Chen can help save OMC, but he needs our support. I'm sure he feels overwhelmed by resistance. We risk losing him—and possibly our hospital. Here’s how you can help:
Speak up online: Counter negative comments about OMC on the Clallam County Watchdog website, leave a comment on @JeffTozzer on x where he also posts his newsletter, or comment on local social media groups.
Share positive stories about Dr. Chen or the hospital’s staff.
Attend public meetings: Join OMC Board of Commissioners meetings (check omc.org for schedules) to voice support for Dr. Chen’s leadership.
Spread the word: Share this message with others and encourage them to rally behind Dr. Chen.
We have two weeks to show we stand with OMC and Dr. Chen. This is our hospital, and together, we can fight to save it.
Great information. With hospitals being omnipresent throughout our country I'm confident there are expert consultants available that specialize in failing hospitals. I know for a fact these experts exist for failing banks; why not hospitals ? There may be a very simple answer, like we do not have the population base to support the hospital. Regardless what the failures may be with OMC, they must be identified before a fix has any chance. Throwing more money at the problem is definitely not the answer until the fail points are known.
I personally know Allen Chen. He was hired to correct the sinking ship. If the CEO and the Board wouldn’t listen to him how will more money thrown at a Consulting firm do any better. It starts with the Top and needs to be held accountable. I fully support Allen and his knowledge to help our community.
Totally agree! Dr. Chen has the intelligence, education and compassion to lead OMC. He has a home here and dedicated to make OMC a successful community organization. Has already proved himself with staff, departments as a great communicator and leader. I do NOT understand the dumb idea of sending more $$$ to consulting for "Interim selection" AND a CEO nationally to solve OMC's problems. Save the $$$ and let Dr. Chen move forward. He has already proven himself as a leader!!!
Not so simple to find and hire honest competent people who want to live and work here...Maybe if we give them a corporate jet and a high end helicopter for commuting they would be willing to 'take it on'.
Efficiency experts are good at slashing budgets, downsizing, eliminating things but not necessarily providing honest leadership.
I personally have 0 faith in humanity to correct course at this time...the corruption and decay are ubiquitous and We have very little say in it as evidenced by the disdain our so called CC's show toward Us.
One more distraction while the world burns and floods.😎
I think that situation might be part of the problem which is demographics. Many of us living here are old and retired. I worked in a large ugly city because that is where the money and employment is. If I spent a decade studying medicine, I would desire the proper compensation commensurate with my talent.
There are expert consultants (Witt Kieffer was named) but you'd want one experienced in Rural Hospitals/healthcare. It's a significant financial investment, takes many months, and demands the involvement and commitment of a community. That means everyone doesn't get everything they want but the town may benefit.
With all due respect, yes, there are some good consultants, have worked with many, but you have to have enough intelligence and experience to understand and check what they are recommending. As have worked there for 13 years, saw the constant revolving doors of consultants come in, make recommendations, take their $$$, with no improvements, only to go through the same process again in a year. If OMC truly has a qualified local candidate, like Dr Chen, that has already proved themself with staff and our community, why keep spending $$$ on out of temporary people with no future investment in living here and living with the outcomes they recommend? Our current Leadership and Commissioners are paralyzed and don't know what to do, so "need" someone from the outside to recommend and blame if it does not work. We do have staff and providers that are good and committed, but without supportive, intelligent leadership, gets us into the problems we have experienced over the last few years.
I did reply to you. There are consultants and their are consulting firms with a wide range of experts in all aspects of hospital leadership, expertise (with a list of past clients), and the time to invest in OMC. This miasma needs more than one person, so "someone" will not be adequate. As for Dr. Chen, who I do not know, clearly he has support; his first job will be to support and stabilize the medical staff and ensure that those connected with OMC are content, and to recruit whatever types of providers OMC needs to ensure the quality outcomes that you all want. He'll be needed by any consulting firm engaged to give them his guidance and perspective, to monitor their work and communicate about progress over time. This is a huge weight for one person to carry.
Do You live in Port Angeles area? I worked there, been a patient and get input from neighbors, hairdresser, friends about how staff is leaving because leadership does ask for or reacts. If you have not experienced our little hospital dumping $$$ into consultants year after year without no improvement. I go by merit, education for candidates, also what have you done or not done as an Administrator or Commissioner. Not some outside consultant. This is a Public Hospital that us residents pay for. Many decisions occur without any Pubic input in our current environment. Sad...
Please note: This is NOT Trump, this is the State of WA declaring OMC a wreck.
It's apparent Darryl Wolfe resigned because he is an utter failure and too cowardly to publicly face what he has done. This will begin to happen at every government facility in Clallam County. There are incompetent people making hundreds of thousands of dollars in charge of every government entity in the county; schools, hospitals, parks, roads, refuges, elections, taxes, governing. All of it run by incompetence and greed. This is why the tribe is taking everything over, they are the one entity that has a competent person in charge.
In the real world, when your business fails there is a huge degree of shame that goes along with it. All of these leaders need to be shamed as their incompetency is put on display. There is no tax payer funded executive job that Darryl Wolfe should ever be allowed to have again.
It also appears that the nursing staff is woefully under trained at OMC. Many of the violations have to do with basic nursing. Most of the nurses there have come up through the PC program so this makes me deeply question the program that Peninsula College is running. Another government program exhibiting incompetent results.
Incompetent managers lead to incompetent procedures. People, performing the work, nurses, may be competent in their skills, but if not presented with competent administrative procedures and oversight, may not have the necessary guidance to document properly. There is a hierarchy, newly graduated nurses need to learn and gain experience, become competent through years of practice, become head nurses and lead others, just as in any other industry or profession. It is management’s job to ensure standards of performance are set and monitored. The mismanagement of this hospital is glaringly apparent. Let’s work together to push for immediate fixes.
There are OMP clinic managers and supervisors who have never been more than medical assistants before their promotion. No college degrees and no significant clinical experience — but they’re supposed to manage BSNs and MDs.
Definitely agree, my first thought when I read the nurse competency issue was that they lacked adequate orientation and supervision. Every piece of OMC is understaffed. In such situations in any organization, new employees, regardless of level of training, face a sink or swim challenge.
I believe that modern corporations have ESG ( environmental, social governance ). When I was employed I noticed that many of the mid level managers performed simple tasks unrelated to mission of the company. The corporation couldn't terminate them because the quota would drop along with the score and investors would flee. I was passing by one of the cubicles and the "manager" who had no crew to manage was using crayons to produce art in a coloring book.
You are bang on about the systemic incompetence and corruption...at every level and every institution...the hospital is harming and probably killing people, or at least increasing their chances of mortality. We're better off taking our chances without it...but I'm sure it will be pegged as too big to fail and hundreds of millions will be spent trying to resurrect it...under current 'leadership', this county is doomed!😎
I agree. I’m inclined towards no money or bailouts. This is an amazing opportunity for a large hospital system on the mainland to gain a presence here and promote a different kind of “remote work”. The downside is that scenario has potential to bring a LOT of people to the peninsula.
A complete takeover by a competent organization is in order. I don't know what kind of statutes are involved, but what we have now 'ain't woikin'.
That incompetence at the core of why we have to end local management of OMC. There are plenty of employees whose greatest expertise was having friends and family already employed there — and being PA or Sequim natives.
Darryl Wolfe was hired in 2006 as a "financial analyst". At the time his father in-law was the main pediatrician at OMC and his mother in-law is well known in the community for throwing her weight and $ around. Currently the Boy's and Girl's club in PA is named after her for her role in fundraising. Darryl Wolfe's wife currently works at OMC. It is indeed nepotism all around.
Former CEO Eric Lewis went to work for the Washington State Hospital Association. I doubt they’d be able to bring him back, even if his one job was to steer OMC into a takeover partnership.
Huh, and Peninsula College's Clinical, Outreach and Accreditation Coordinator is a sitting city council person for Port Angeles.
I believe the person you're referring to is the Mayor. The first listed learning outcome of the program she directs is to "holistically assess the biopsychosocial-spiritual-cultural dynamic needs of the client".
What does that even mean and why are they being trained to look at clients instead of patients?
wow... nice word "biopsychosocial" means to consider biological, psychological and social factors and their complex interactions in understanding health, illness, and health care delivery....
Another case where words mean more than actions. Makes sense now.
Isn't this exactly the opposite of what we, as a "under god" country are supposed to embrace.. "let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth"
Under God
my version doesn't use caps, it's an e. e. cummings kind of god.
The disaster Clallam County policies explained accurately. Well done TJ.
I looked at the nursing program at PC when it first got going and decided to pass. They provide a decent beginning level educational foundation for sure, but only for a few semesters. Once the students complete the foundational studies they do their last year training at OMC. When Karen Hart broke her hip in winter of 2001, the microbiologist from OMC was hired to take over her classes so the next crop of nursing students could finish the class and get hired on. I was taking microbiology that year as well as all the nursing students. While I opted out of finishing until the next year when Karen returned literally ALL of the nursing students took the last semester with OMC's Penny (forget her last name). None of them were higher than "C" students during our first semester yet many that I spoke with at end of term had miraculously finished with A's and B's and were bragging about how Penny made it so easy on them. I was a 4.0 and super glad I waited for Professor Hart to return because, unlike most of the nursing students I was there to learn, not to get my foot in the door at OMC.
I had learned that OMC was pretty much a "C" student itself. Over the years I lived in PA I had to have treatment there twice. And, twice, I ended up having to go to Seattle to have the damage done from their treatments re-treated. I haven't stepped foot in that hospital since. They are notoriously inept. The doctors and nurses at Swedish and Harborview openly concur. This happened between 2000 and 2002 and from what I gather the dysfunction there is worse than ever. We should sell off all their properties and buy a couple helicopters so our EMT's can transport folks to Seattle for emergencies
That is a wonderful idea. I have been to both Swedish and OMC and the comparison is dramatic. Medicare will cover a helicopter ride if the malady is "life threatening". If not there is also an insurance plan that does cover the helicopter ride.
Shame on you. This is an extremely unfortunate situation. Your attitude does not help one little bit. You have no idea how hard it is to go to work as a nurse and jump through hundreds of the most ridiculous hoops required by the federal government that interfere with actual patient care. It is a regulatory nightmare. Patient care suffers because of the burdensome regulations, not because of a lack of caring by the staff. Covid co-opted everything and OMC has been a rudderless ship since then.
No one is questioning the caring. I am questioning the training and lack of management. No excuses matter anymore. This community is about to lose a hospital because of nursing violations. Shame on them.
Leave PC out of this. Those nurses all have to pass the stringent state boards to be licensed as nurses. They don't pass a test at PC and become nurses at OMC.
Yes, All the nurses have to pass the "stringent" test. Yet here we are, so many basic nursing violations that the hospital may have to shut down. Who's to blame? Management? Nurses? Training? The cause of incompetence lies somewhere and to leave PC out of the blame completely is unserious. The PC program was set up specifically to address the nursing shortage at OMC. The majority of nurses working there have gone through the program. CMS has proven that OMC has a dangerous problem with basic nursing. PC to blame.
MANAGEMENT IS TO BLAME.
or lack thereof.
A nurse is only as good as the system they work within. A bad nurse can cause a problem, but OMC is experiencing a systemic problem far beyond the education they receive at PC.
I actually disagree. There are some incredible nurses that work in terrible systems and there are terrible nurses that work in great systems. The two are not exclusive. Properly trained nurses would create a culture of great nursing. I know for a fact that the culture at OMC is not a culture of greatness, but a culture of "just pay me". That comes from management and training. PC trained them.
They can be woke and still graduate skilled people. But apparently they are graduating nurses who do not even know how to take basic notes or check in on patients.
PC should be the next government agency that gets a compliance visit. They are graduating dangerously incompetent nurses.
All the issues you mention are listed as what they train for PC's program.
https://pencol.edu/program/nursing
Hopefully the incompetence witnessed has to do with individual workers' paradigms though. This last year the only nurses I thought weren't doing proper follow-up were for short stay upstairs. That was only 2 people, so maybe it was just a bad day for them, and I get that the patient was delusional. I think the ER does a good job, it's just the prescription of opiates for smaller things that is a bit of a red flag to me.
The ER is atrocious. Most of the ER staff is contract workers and severely understaffed. My wife had to go there once and we were there for 6 hours. She never went to an ER room and was treated totally in the lobby. Even private questions were asked right there in front of and within hearing of others waiting for treatment. It was horrible.
I was there last April in pretty bad shape. Admitted by ambulance so got put in a room right away about 7:30pm. Lots of testing and an IV medication started but then I had to lay there (on their gurney bed) til about 3:00AM before finally being transferred upstairs to a hospital room. The last 4 hours of that 7.5 hours felt like forever! I kept asking WHY it was taking so long but the young guy in charge there couldn’t give me an answer.
I went there with 103 fever and a horrible infection. I got to the ER at 7am and was still sitting in the ER at 4pm and they finally took me back at 4:45. Since living in Sequim off & on since the 80s and having been admitted to the OMC hospital probably 5 times in my life for a serious blood clotting issue, I almost died in their care twice, not due to my condition but due to mistakes they made or terrible care.
I saw a woman miscarry in the waiting room at OMC ER after waiting hours. I was prescribed a medication that would have been very dangerous if I'd taken it. Walked out of there and drove to St Michael's, where there is real medical care. I'll never go to OMC, even though I'm forced to support them through taxes. They're unusable.
Oh wow that is terrible. I have a lot of clients who are 60+, they go to Silverdale for care instead, and I take my girlfriend to Silverdale for her leg. I guess I forgot about that whole side of things... I was only thinking of what I personally witnessed when I commented earlier.
I was also there once, spent 9 hours waiting for different areas of treatment. I asked at the front desk of the ER if it was exceptionally busy because I had been there so long and got a "no not really". I just shrug my shoulders and shake my head at health care in the US!
WHAT? Prescription of Opiates for "smaller things?" I have been to the ER maybe twice in the last handful of years and was post-op screaming in pain once and had 16 blood clots in my thigh another time and felt like my leg was being pinched off my body and they refused any sort of pain medication. I have never had an addiction issue, haven't been on any sort of pain medication or anything for a decade and they treat you as if your a criminal if you are in serious pain. Also, I almost lost my life due to that ER. The ER is the WORST.
They recently prescribed opiates to a family member for a small amount of cellulitis.
In my opinion that's a bit excessive.
What they allowed to happen to you is wrong.
I haven't been there when someone is having what I would consider is a serious scenario.
I dropped 2 people off for serious scenarios, and now I know they should have taken the ambulance for free because of the Medic 1 utility charge.
What is a Medic 1 utility charge? Be aware that if Olympic Ambulance gets to you before the county ambulance, your insurance won't cover the private am bulance.
Saying PC is WOKE is the most ignorant statement I have almost ever read. Instead of believing what you have been indoctrinated to believe by the ultra right - woke means aware of the world and what is happening around you- not what the Trump regime has warped your mind to believe.
words change meaning all the time. Nice used to mean stupid or foolish, now it means pleasantly agreeable. Awful used to mean "oh wow, that's amazing" now it means bad or unpleasant. Bully used to be a term of endearment, now it's a term of abuse. Gay used to mean joyful, now it means attracted to same-sex. Myriad used to mean to have exactly 1000 items of something, now it's just a bunch. Naughty used to mean you "had naught" or NOTHING, then it became "evil" now it's just a little misbehaved. Quell used to mean "to kill" now it's just to subdue. Divest used to mean "to undress" now it's just to sell an investment. Meat used to just mean food to eat, now it's animal flesh. Black used to be a color associated with mourning, now it describes an ancestry which includes a lot of the pigment melanin, that protects skin from harmful UV rays.
You have to keep up with words and their meaning.... our language is living and evolving. Woke used to mean being aware, but now it's a pejorative to criticize those who are overly sensitive, and a bit deranged.
Your rundown of language evolution is spot-on; really engaging to read. That said, I think there’s a deeper issue here. The problem isn’t just that woke changed meaning, it’s how it’s being co-opted as a catch-all to dismiss things people don’t agree with or don’t want to understand. Words evolve, yes...but they can also be weaponized. When woke becomes shorthand for ‘anything that challenges my worldview,’ it loses all meaning and shuts down actual discourse. That’s not linguistic evolution, it is intellectual evasion. So while you're totally right about etymology, there's also power in how words get twisted, especially in public dialogue.
That is true. Everyone seems to be butchering the language these days. One side says "nazi, king, despot, tyrant" the other side says "TDS" "Woke" and "whack-a-doodle". We've all forgotten how to have a polite discourse, and listen to the other side.
It really does discourage me. I like debate.
I don't believe the comparison though is symmetrical. One party in the dispute is considered evil and the other side silly and trivial. What happened to the Nazi members? Because they were evil they were executed. What is the treatment of a woke individual? They experience verbal ridicule, but nobody wishes their death. The outcomes are entirely different.
I don’t think we’ve ALL forgotten, Mimi 😉 I rarely see anything other than respectable interactions inside this forum & I’d personally like to thank you for your contributions here & everywhere else you circulate. You are a breath of fresh air!!!
don't forget "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me" ...another person's feelings are THEIR responsibility, not mine, not yours.
I believe that comprehension of a complex subject is also governed by emotion. I was in a study group many years ago and one of the students was angry that the concept of God was not included in the curriculum. She was visibly upset where as non of the other members cared. The subject was important to her. Emotion, Evolution, the Will and biology tamper with our brains. That is why defense mechanisms exist. They protect our appraisal of ourselves even if we are worthless. I bet the county commissioners would all grade their performance not upon an objective standard but through the Lens of a very strong narcissistic "id".
I first noticed the term "woke" when the recalcitrant football player knelt when The National Anthem was played. It was a display of contempt directed at a country that person hated. LOL I can think of one word popular when Mark Twain novels were published that is now so vile and offensive that uttering it could create an immediate execution. In Orwell's famous book the more advanced members of society were actively reducing their vocabulary. Words are symbols for thoughts and thoughts can become oppressive.
In 1969 "Colored" was the preferred nomenclature at my high school and "Black" was a derogatory term.
yeah, a couple years later the preferred term in the SF Bay Area was "Afro" or for short "fro", which later became the derisive term for fluffy hair.
The evil process has occurred gradually as if the rage has been simmering for many centuries. Anti racism was a noble pursuit but now it is tantamount to anti White though the angriest and most vocal grievance group I have experienced has been the feminists. I don't understand why. I support the concept of equality but why does it so often transform into vitriol? BTW the question is rhetorical. We all know why.
Feminism FAILED. The whole thing was basically for women to emulate emasculated men and treat other women with great contempt and shove them further down. (No hand-up in corporate America, from other women.)
It made sense when I found out that women were the ones who deemed other women witches --- pointed and whispered. We aren't really a very cooperative group, at least NOT in this culture.
You do get awfully defensive Miss Shawna. There's a lot of truth to saying PC is woke, especially if you've taken any of their classes. They manage to fit an awful lot of woke nonsense in regardless of subject matter. Some kids are so accustomed to indoctrination, they don't even recognize it. Pitiful.
The indoctrination is not knew. I took a politically correct class in college and earned an easy A. LOL The professor believed that the male and female brains are identical. Any differences such as those involving the sex drive and the warrior gene are the result of conditioning and nothing more. This was the blank slate theory proposed by the empiricist John Locke and later behaviorist BF Skinner.
In addition back in those days unless a student was very handsome if he wasn't PC or Woke he was alone every Saturday night.
or, to quote Woody Allen, "bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night ." ;-)
I am unfamiliar with the specific situation mentioned here but I have watched the effect of "quota" hiring practices and it is devastating to any organization. I saw it in college and employment dating back to the year 1969 only in those days the terms used were equal opportunity employment and affirmative action. Originally the program was supposed to include mostly African Americans but now everyone is included except White males. Test scores were lowered for the "oppressed" groups. Footnote : The one non White group that was also persecuted at Harvard and Berkley was Asian.
I think Hubert Humphry's original plan was based upon a false premise. A fortune has been spent on public schools and test scores in math seem to decline more every year as the violence increases.
"Agree to disagree" is the signal for an end to a productive conversation, hinders any ability to understand the other person's point of view, and murders any attempt at a potential compromise. Its a word salad that is basically condescending and dismissive. Easy, but bad habit. In 60's slang, it's a "cop out". (Part of the white slacker trilogy: turn on, tune in, drop out.)
The phrase PC (meaning politically correct) has morphed into the appropriated "woke" and given a loaded meaning. It really has a lot to do with the way our media has fanned the flames of discord in our communities. And how history is not taught anymore.
HOWEVER, it had a long history of meaning, before the current one. It's clearly been co-oped, and the history confused. It was used in songs (i.e. Lead Belly's Scottsboro Boys in 1938 about four boys accused of raping a white woman -- "be a little careful when you go down there, stay woke, keep your eyes open").
In the 1940s Negro Mine Workers chanted, during a wage dispute. "We were asleep. But we will stay woke from now on."
William Melvin Kelley wrote in his NYT essay (1962) "If You're WOKE, You Dig IT" as a complaint about cultural appropriation, distortion of language, and idioms being taken by others. It USED TO MEAN an in-group signaling, to remind other black folk to be aware. Or as Elijah Watson traced the Black American colloquialism, "to be woke is to be black".
The NAACP has been very outspoken about their disgust with the word being co-oped and the Black history removed, and used to distort. How the meaning has changed, drastically, and so that it now connotes white virtue signaling.
How it's been used and misused (aka appropriated) by millennials and Gen Z, and a whole bunch of old white Boomers who have no clue is really disgusting. The original meaning has been so distorted, to the point where it is now a "white-to-white" signal of support for progressive causes.
It reminds me of the white kids at an Angela Davis Rally in the late 1960's thinking the black kids were saying "Right Arm" with a clenched fist, right arm pump.
Words have a life all their own.
Completely! So is Costco, btw, so look for more dysfunction coming our way, soon!🤑
Costco has a policy against making political contributions to any party or government, at any level. Individual employees, may, and these are not attributed to Costco.
Costco predominantly contributed to Democratic congressional and federal candidates, with 68.1% and 69% of the total amount of dollars, respectively, Open Secrets data shows.
Costco predominantly contributed to Democratic congressional and federal candidates, with 68.1% and 69% of the total amount of dollars, respectively, Open Secrets data shows.
EMPLOYEES and management may, but the company has always had a policy of never getting involved. Check the fine print on Open Secrets.
https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/839/~/does-costco-wholesale-make-political-contributions-or-provide-other-political
"As a company, we respect the choices our members make, so we do not take positions on social issues, we are not involved in partisan politics, and we do not contribute money to political candidates or issues.
When you visit a Costco warehouse, we want you to feel welcome. And, after gathering much feedback, we have found that the majority of our members appreciate the fact that our atmosphere is devoid of politics—so we strive to keep it that way. Your comfort and satisfaction is our No. 1 priority. "
Woke is define my it’s actions and the woke have done that well. The statement by AFB is accurate.
Where were you, where are you Ann Henninger?
And we hire someone for $12K a week to slam the door shut in our faces? Sounds like Middle Ages "blood letting", using bloodsuckers to get every nickel out of the dying patient.
Where were you, where are you Ann Henninger? Am I missing something in the narrative? This problem has been present for how long? No airing in the PDN, SG, KMSQ, KONP!? Weren't human beings created with a tongue to speak up with?
"We have met the enemy and it is us!" Pogo
No different than any other council, commission or school board member who is all gung ho at the beginning, promising transparency and a new voice. It never takes long for them to learn that if they’re going to get along on that governing body, they’ll have to play by the insider rules.
It's clear that these over-paid execs were more interested in the prestige, salary, 4-martini lunches, and other perks than doing their jobs. The lot of them should be fired immediately and replaced by competent leadership, with public oversight.
But, I see the writing on the wall: JKT will waltz in and change OMC to Jamestown Family Health. Could this have been what our silent commissioners had planned all along?
If Jamestown Tribe can save and improve OMC, as much as I don't like this solution, we will at least have a local, certified hospital. I doubt any other 'savior' will act quickly enough to make sure our good physicians don't leave us holding a cold stethoscope.
The physicians are already not our physicians. They 'belong' to a Wall Street consortium, Sound Physicians I believe. The only loyalty is to the corporation.😜
Physicians are insurance company employees. My doctor told me that if I accepted the Covid vaccine that I wouldn't succumb to Covid. I still got it. I wonder how many people died from the vaccine and not the disease. I read about a man who was killed in a motorcycle accident and the cause of death was officially Covid. LOL If money is concerned people will cheat and lie. It is human nature.
At least they would likely run it competently, with the help of the Commissioners....
Don’t forget the previous article about Jamestown Medical, be very careful what you wish for.
office space in the basement for a water steward desk? Quid pro quo?
More along the lines of something bad happening to you as a patient and there being no recourse because the hospital would be on sovereign land.
I am certainly not wishing for that. Just foreseeing the future through my murky crystal ball....
Is a distinction that one is a non-profit and the other is run for profit? Can they be wedded? Looking into the same murky ball.
Public-Private partnerships...the worst of two worlds!😎
Run it the rest of the way into the ground!🤣
Don't accept what you are force fed -including by proxi
Never underestimate the enemy!😎
Ha Ha. "All warfare is based upon deception". Sun Tzu
That’s where my money is!
At least you have some...mine is vapor!🤓
BINGO
Just out of curiosity, what role would Dr. Allison Berry, public health officer for Clallam and Jefferson County (and, as a reminder, the savior to WA State in a 2 year moratorium on local resident's ability to live and work outside the home during the 'pandemic') have in this fiasco? This is a pitiful outcome for those members in the community who have a need for surgeries and immediate care. Obviously, you need to head to Port Townsend.
Dr. Allison Berry, the clueless, incompetent, totalitarian Nurse Ratchett?
Missing in action like many DEI hires and county commissioners whose priorities are culture tax, tribal affairs, and boofing kits.
She won't be MIA if there's another pandemic. She will be out front pushing her Johns Hopkins liberal culture on everyone. She should be held accountable for the despicable things she pushed during Covid.
She is a medical/cultural criminal!😱
Succinctly stated, Eric! Bravo!
Scary Berry! Woke, leftist, DEI hire! Danger to the communities! Socialist 'infiltraitor'!
I don't know how but there needs to be massive firing at many govern-mental (emphasis on the MENTAL) agencies including 'justice' depths!
Without accountability and justice, there is no civilization!😎
Will Jefferson county take Clallam patients? Maybe through their emergency room?
Yes. We make the drive to port Townsend whenever we can for hospital service. Its a better facility with good bedside manner.Unfortunately for my elderly mother, who is paralyzed from 2 strokes and has to rely on an ambulance for transport to and from the emergency room is unable to go to PT.
Perhaps if omc does shut down, they will have no choice but to take her to PT. At least then she will have a chance. It's been very disheartening as a full time caregiver to my mother to watch the incompetence and neglect that my mother has to repeatedly suffer from omc. I say good riddance. I hope that a larger entity with more ethics takes it over. But I wonder where that tax money will go.
Of course. Jeffco takes OMC referrals, etc.
Nice reporting Jeff, thank you. TT.
I tried the links within the "WittKieffer" website at https://wittkieffer.com/ and the "for candidate" links give this error "Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the browser console for more information)." I am concerned about this company's validity. I am reaching out to the president of the BOC to offer whatever help I can with my abilities. It is a common story for rural and underserved communities to be leveraged at their expense to take what little resources they have and bleed them dry, and remove their ability to care for their people. Thank you, @jefftozzer and @ccwatchdog, for shedding light on all of this!
Monday, September 17, 1787: Benjamin Franklin's response to Elizabeth Willing Powel's question: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy? A republic, if you can keep it.”
In order to keep a representative government, it takes the involvement "of the people for the people," if that makes sense?
I just clicked the link and it works fine.
Oh good, I sent a message through LinkedIn to wittkieffer yesterday saying the links don’t seem to be working, so hopefully they fixed them. Still not optimal for the price tag, if that’s fair?
Google Athens, Tennessee 1946.
This feels as if it is just another of many calculated attempts to get people off the land on the peninsula. As you said towards the end of the podcast, if this goes through, people will leave the area. So much seems to be tying together.
Realtors take note. You'd best to be telling potential buyers (let's call it full disclosure) of this issue. Question, If a potential buyer for your home asks you, the seller directly, "Why are you selling?" must you be forthcoming in saying, "We lost our local hospital"!
The thing is, the only thing a homeowner is obligated to report/disclose when listing their home is the homeowner disclosure statement which deals directly with issues concerning their home. As far as researching the community, that is on the homebuyer and he/she must be extra discerning.
I hear you, but in this litigious society, just putting the thought out there. One turns on the TV and sees so many ads nowadays for attorneys that are hungry for your case. A hungry new attorney, hanging out a shingle, a case that that attorney can hit you in the gut with, and a sympathetic jury. Just sayin. Food for thought. Bet the tobacco companies never thought they'd lose a case.
You understand much more than most...appreciate your contribution!😎
This all started for me back around the time when wildfires were burning in Australia and in northern California. I was up in the middle of the night and a very discerning friend had posted something from Debra Tavarez from Stop The Crime about the plan to burn up Northern California. Which led me to really start researching agenda 21/agenda 2030. I kind of became similar to a dog with a bone during that period of time and would meet together with friends who knew what was up. When the 2020 things all started to happen, we would have frequent meetings also. very educated women. One of which did her whole career in the NCIS. Many people do not understand what is going on.
Wow!! Excellent, Jeff! This matter concerns everyone, and therefore, everyone needed to be told the truth a long time ago. OMC has not been compliant with CMS standards? My mind still can't understand why too many people let this go, unless this was the intent of some very unscrupulous high rollers. Gambling with people's health is of no concern when the odds favor their bets. Start naming names if you know them, or else we'll be going through this debacle all over again. Shameful!
Nothing happens by accident...it's ALL planned...even the 'incompetence' is planned.
Using the 'Peter Principle' it is possible to topple any organization and that is what we are witnessing.😬
Clallam County has way to many over paid woke libtards screwing everything up with their incompetent decisions.Their answer to all problems is just raise taxes & fee's.
I have a feeling this is like one of those nasty IRS letters that are more scare than bite. Receiving a letter from CMS regarding deficiencies is not uncommon, it is typically an opportunity for the hospital to rectify the issues, and termination from the Medicare program, though possible, is not the typical outcome. It does show poor effort in correcting the problem to get two in a row....thus the CEO resigned. He took over from Eric Lewis about 10 years ago. I say we bring Eric back! Mike Glenn, the current CEO of Jefferson Healthcare preceded Eric as OMC's CEO. Mike is also very good. I once was in a lease negotiation with Daryll and was ready to walk away due to some underhanded moves he tried to make....then Eric stepped in and took over. Kudo's to Jeff from spotlighting this problem. You rarely if ever see this sort of story in the local media as they are bought and paid by big corporations...just like congress, Hollywood and other mass media in this country. We need to awaken the rest of those stuck in the propaganda matrix. X is one of the best places to get national and international news.
Great job, Jeff! We can only hope that the state appoints an outside healthcare organization to run OMC or the commission board chooses a good one to have as a takeover partner. Both OMC and OMP are in desperate need of professional management at every level, from the top down to the individual departments. Can’t wait to see the OMC board meeting on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in Linkletter Hall (basement level of OMC).
I was delighted to see that OMC pulled down the sign for an upcoming pharmacy at the former Wells Fargo Bank building on Front St. My understanding is that they can’t even adequately staff their in-house pharmacy, let alone set up a new one for the public. They need to sell that building and many others; OMC has been stashing cash away in real estate for years (while they cry that they have no money) and it’s time for that practice to end.
too bad OMC can't turn all the various buildings around town that they own to create living spaces (and or tear down and build nice town homes). They own so many buildings....
The small white house/building behind the 8th and Vine St clinic, should be demolished and sold for residential housing.
Quite excellent Reporting @Jeff Tozzer!! Thank you.
I am a local physician employed by OMC and can confirm that everything in the above article is accurate. I especially sympathize with the letter from the unnamed local physician, who has summarized the situation far more eloquently than I intend to here.
To resort to a nautical metaphor: Truly, there has been no one at the helm, and now the ship is foundering on the rocks—thanks to years of reckless, unforgivable neglect.
Like the majority of the staff, I've watched this disaster unfold for years. My initial impression was that upper administration couldn't possibly be this incompetent and must be deliberately sabotaging the hospital for personal gain. Even laziness and poor judgment have limits, but here they've been exceeded in spectacular fashion. I've worked in multiple health systems—from private practices to large organizations—and never encountered such profound self-absorption, arrogance, and outright ignorance of the institution they claim to lead. In any other environment, this level of dysfunction wouldn't be tolerated; it would collapse under its own weight. Unfortunately, the peninsula's isolation has allowed this toxic incompetence to fester unchecked for far too long. Now, we're teetering on the brink of total collapse, and frontline employees have been screaming warnings all along—to deaf ears.
The truth is glaringly obvious: The hospital is hemorrhaging funds at an alarming rate. Patient satisfaction is in the gutter, with reviews that would shame any competent operation. General physicians and specialists are fleeing in droves, with no replacements in sight. Day after day, month after month, year after year, problems snowball—and what has been done? Absolutely nothing of substance. Physicians and staff grind themselves to exhaustion, delivering the best care possible to our community despite the chaos, only to burn out and leave. We've clung to hope that our so-called leaders would finally wake up, address the crises, or at least pretend to listen. Instead? Crickets. They bombard us with delusional, self-congratulatory emails boasting about phantom achievements, while the rot is visible to anyone with eyes. These shameless attempts to gaslight us have been a slap in the face to every dedicated staff member forced to endure them. The emperor has no clothes—and hasn't for years.
Out of sheer desperation, many non-administrative physicians (myself included) have approached the board with practical, often straightforward solutions—only to be dismissed, stonewalled, or outright ignored. At times, board members couldn't even be bothered to show up for scheduled meetings meant to address these pleas. This administration hasn't just failed to act; they've actively sabotaged progress, blocking others from implementing fixes they were too inept, too indolent, or too egotistical to attempt themselves. It's not mere negligence—it's a betrayal of the community we all serve.
I do have one faint positive amid the wreckage: I believe the new CPO, Allen Chen, has the potential to claw back from this abyss. In his first week, I walked into his office and laid bare these harsh truths. Rather than spouting hollow platitudes, he dove in headfirst. In just six months, he's achieved more tangible progress than the entire cadre of failures before him in the past two years—battling tooth and nail for the clinics, providers, and the community at large. He's primed to deliver real change, even at this eleventh hour, if the dead weight above him would stop obstructing and let him do the job he was hired for. It's a travesty that he's fresh on the scene and already tainted by association with these entrenched incompetents.
I'm long past fretting over decorum or job security. The physicians, nurses, and staff on the front lines are every bit as outraged and heartbroken as those reading this article. We are the community—and we've had enough of this preventable catastrophe.
Thank you for posting this, but more importantly what can we all do to support Dr. Chen taking the helm?
It would seem that the the hospital could save the money they're spending on an interim leader and just get on with it by hiring Dr.Chen.
I have plans to attend the Wednesday meeting this week and would like to understand talking points that are persuasive to this end.
Thank you.
Our community faces a crisis that could cost us Olympic Medical Center (OMC), Clallam County’s largest employer and our lifeline for healthcare. By August 15, 2025, OMC risks losing 85% of its funding due to Medicare pulling out over serious safety violations—issues like improper patient monitoring and missing medical orders. This follows years of mismanagement, a recent CEO resignation, and a 2024 tax hike that promised to save the hospital but hasn’t delivered.Despite this chaos, I know the dedicated doctors, nurses, and staff at OMC are heartbroken and working hard to serve us. But many are leaving, and we can’t afford to lose more. That’s why I’m reaching out about someone who gives me hope: Dr. Allen Chen, OMC’s Chief Physician Officer.Dr. Chen moved here earlier this year to take on this role, and he’s not part of the old guard. My husband and I recently faced a serious medical issue, and Dr. Chen went above and beyond, checking in with us and showing genuine care. In conversations, he’s shared his deep commitment to fixing OMC and restoring its reputation as a safe, trusted hospital. Unlike the executives named in a recent no-confidence letter, Dr. Chen is one of only two leaders not criticized for the hospital’s failures.I’m convinced Dr. Chen can help save OMC, but he needs our support. I'm sure he feels overwhelmed by resistance. We risk losing him—and possibly our hospital. Here’s how you can help:
Speak up online: Counter negative comments about OMC on the Clallam County Watchdog website, leave a comment on @JeffTozzer on x where he also posts his newsletter, or comment on local social media groups.
Share positive stories about Dr. Chen or the hospital’s staff.
Attend public meetings: Join OMC Board of Commissioners meetings (check omc.org for schedules) to voice support for Dr. Chen’s leadership.
Spread the word: Share this message with others and encourage them to rally behind Dr. Chen.
We have two weeks to show we stand with OMC and Dr. Chen. This is our hospital, and together, we can fight to save it.
Great information. With hospitals being omnipresent throughout our country I'm confident there are expert consultants available that specialize in failing hospitals. I know for a fact these experts exist for failing banks; why not hospitals ? There may be a very simple answer, like we do not have the population base to support the hospital. Regardless what the failures may be with OMC, they must be identified before a fix has any chance. Throwing more money at the problem is definitely not the answer until the fail points are known.
I’ve never seen a consulting firm leave anything but empty coffers when they leave.
and probably some kickbacks to key executives for being hired in the first place.
Tell me what your experience with consulting firms is.
I personally know Allen Chen. He was hired to correct the sinking ship. If the CEO and the Board wouldn’t listen to him how will more money thrown at a Consulting firm do any better. It starts with the Top and needs to be held accountable. I fully support Allen and his knowledge to help our community.
You can read his story here https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/physician-officer-goes-back-to-roots/. I have met with Dr. Chen and believe him to be a savior for OMC.
I 1000% agree with you. The staff at OMC are behind Dr.Chen. He has a heart of gold.
I hope so...savior is a big burden!🤓
can't read it when I click on it without subscribing. Can you copy and paste the text?
I support prosecution and jail for white-collar criminals!😎
Totally agree! Dr. Chen has the intelligence, education and compassion to lead OMC. He has a home here and dedicated to make OMC a successful community organization. Has already proved himself with staff, departments as a great communicator and leader. I do NOT understand the dumb idea of sending more $$$ to consulting for "Interim selection" AND a CEO nationally to solve OMC's problems. Save the $$$ and let Dr. Chen move forward. He has already proven himself as a leader!!!
When your only tool is a hammer, everything is a nail.
Not so simple to find and hire honest competent people who want to live and work here...Maybe if we give them a corporate jet and a high end helicopter for commuting they would be willing to 'take it on'.
Efficiency experts are good at slashing budgets, downsizing, eliminating things but not necessarily providing honest leadership.
I personally have 0 faith in humanity to correct course at this time...the corruption and decay are ubiquitous and We have very little say in it as evidenced by the disdain our so called CC's show toward Us.
One more distraction while the world burns and floods.😎
Most people move to where their jobs are.
I think that situation might be part of the problem which is demographics. Many of us living here are old and retired. I worked in a large ugly city because that is where the money and employment is. If I spent a decade studying medicine, I would desire the proper compensation commensurate with my talent.
There are expert consultants (Witt Kieffer was named) but you'd want one experienced in Rural Hospitals/healthcare. It's a significant financial investment, takes many months, and demands the involvement and commitment of a community. That means everyone doesn't get everything they want but the town may benefit.
With all due respect, yes, there are some good consultants, have worked with many, but you have to have enough intelligence and experience to understand and check what they are recommending. As have worked there for 13 years, saw the constant revolving doors of consultants come in, make recommendations, take their $$$, with no improvements, only to go through the same process again in a year. If OMC truly has a qualified local candidate, like Dr Chen, that has already proved themself with staff and our community, why keep spending $$$ on out of temporary people with no future investment in living here and living with the outcomes they recommend? Our current Leadership and Commissioners are paralyzed and don't know what to do, so "need" someone from the outside to recommend and blame if it does not work. We do have staff and providers that are good and committed, but without supportive, intelligent leadership, gets us into the problems we have experienced over the last few years.
I did reply to you. There are consultants and their are consulting firms with a wide range of experts in all aspects of hospital leadership, expertise (with a list of past clients), and the time to invest in OMC. This miasma needs more than one person, so "someone" will not be adequate. As for Dr. Chen, who I do not know, clearly he has support; his first job will be to support and stabilize the medical staff and ensure that those connected with OMC are content, and to recruit whatever types of providers OMC needs to ensure the quality outcomes that you all want. He'll be needed by any consulting firm engaged to give them his guidance and perspective, to monitor their work and communicate about progress over time. This is a huge weight for one person to carry.
Do You live in Port Angeles area? I worked there, been a patient and get input from neighbors, hairdresser, friends about how staff is leaving because leadership does ask for or reacts. If you have not experienced our little hospital dumping $$$ into consultants year after year without no improvement. I go by merit, education for candidates, also what have you done or not done as an Administrator or Commissioner. Not some outside consultant. This is a Public Hospital that us residents pay for. Many decisions occur without any Pubic input in our current environment. Sad...