BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – Olympic Medical Center’s Board of Commissioners made no significant decisions or announcements at Wednesday night’s meeting, as some thought they might, regarding their search for a possible partnership. Instead, Commissioners approved a resolution which directs the board and OMC officials to “have deeper, more-focused discussions with potential partners with the goal of negotiating one of more letters of intent. This moves the process out of the evaluation phase and into the decision phase.”
They clarified what they are calling a “road map” going forward, but still are not naming names as to who has submitted proposals for a partnership.
OMC’s Bobby Stone told KONP via email, “Moving forward with active negotiations does not mean the Board has committed to partnering with another organization. Rather, it means they have moved from the Evaluation phase to the Decision phase, another step forward in a deliberate process to address the healthcare needs of the North Olympic Peninsula.
With the resolution in place, the Board and OMC leadership will now have even deeper, more-focused discussions with potential partners with the goal of negotiating one or more non-binding letters of intent that further details what a future partnership could look like.
Following these discussions, at an upcoming Board meeting, the Board will publicly vote on whether to continue to move forward by signing one of the non-binding letters of intent (LOI) with a health system; the name of the health system will become public at that time. While a letter of intent is still a non-binding agreement, it represents an important milestone in the process because it outlines the core tenets of what a potential partnership could look like should the process continue. There are purposefully many steps before a final agreement is reached to help make sure any potential partnership is the right fit. “
More details on the process are outlined in the timeline found at olympicmedical.org/exploration.
Rumors abound about the kind of proposals OMC officials may be considering. Notably, as we reported in April, Matt Ready, who is on the Board of Commissioners of Jefferson Healthcare, told the Port Townsend Leader that one proposal would create a “super board” that would govern both Jefferson Healthcare and OMC. Ready characterized what he said were negotiations between the two parties as being done in secret, saying he as a commissioner and the public had been left out of the process.
OMC Board President Ann Henninger addressed the Port Townsend Leader’s news story directly on the night the newspaper published the story, saying, “…quotes featured in the article do not accurately represent our ongoing process nor do they accurately depict the integrity, legal requirements and best practice approach to our ongoing partnership exploration process. To be clear, no decisions have been made, and we continue to explore all options…” Henninger said proposals from potential partners were “done in part through confidentiality.”
She added, “My fellow Board members and I are dedicated to transparency and aim to share as much information as we can. However, it is crucial to maintain a certain level of confidentiality in the evaluation phase to ensure the best outcome for OMC.”