PORT ANGELES — Dr. Joshua Jones is leaving Olympic Medical Center as its chief physician officer and a member of its executive team on Nov. 1, Bobby Beeman, director of marketing and communications, confirmed Friday.

Dr. Jones, who is a forensic psychiatrist, came to OMC in September 2016 after six years as medical director at Peninsula Behavioral Health. He oversees medical operations, the day-to-day activities of physicians and clinic providers, and directs OMC’s recruitment, training and retention efforts.

No more details were available about his leaving.

According to the Washington State Department of Health, Jones’s salary was $306,130 in 2021 (the most recent year for which data is available). According to that listing, he is OMC’s highest-paid employee, followed by CEO Darryl Wolf ($247,502) and Chief Medical Officer Robert Kennedy ($245,353). A posting on OMC’s website lists the chief physician officer’s annual salary as ranging from $237,931-$388,211.

Jones’s departure comes as OMC faces financial distress and struggles to hire and retain employees while it looks ahead to the criminal trial of one of its former medical providers next year.

In her financial report to the board at its Aug. 16 meeting, CFO Lorraine Cannon said OMC had lost $17.5 million in the first seven months of the year and lost $3.55 million in July alone. OMC has initiated cost-cutting measures that include a hiring freeze on non-clinical personnel, reducing its reliance on contract labor, analyzing and restructuring its debt, delaying capital projects and curtailing expenses like non-necessary travel and office supplies.

At the same August meeting, Human Resources Director Heather Delplain said that in July OMC had 229 job openings, including 33 hard-to-fill provider and 45 registered nurse positions. It recently hired Whaleheart Productions in Port Townsend to produce a series of videos promoting career opportunities at OMC.

On Jan. 22, former OMC emergency department physician Josiah Hill is scheduled to be tried in Clallam County Superior Court on five counts of indecent liberties by a health care provider and one count of rape in the second degree. At least six women have come forward alleging Hill sexually assaulted them while they were in his care. One has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against OMC.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at Paula.Hunt@soundpublishing.com