PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center is operating in the black, but it still isn’t where commissioners would like to see it.

“That’s why we needed the levy,” said OMC Board President Jim Leskinovitch on Wednesday during a commissioners’ meeting, referring to the levy lid lift approved by hospital district voters last August.

Chief Financial Officer Julie Rukstad told the commissioners that OMC’s operating margin for the fourth quarter of 2008 was 1.5 percent in the black.

Operating margin is the “profit” that nonprofit organizations like OMC earn to fund capital facilities and upgrade equipment and a key indicator of long-term health.

Hospital officials have stated a target of a 3 percent margin.

The levy will keep the hospital and its satellite clinics financially viable, because the reimbursement rates are “just not there,” Leskinovitch said.

Hospital District No. 2 began collecting 44 cents per $1,000 of real property’s assessed valuation Jan. 1. Taxpayers who don’t have taxes deposited in escrow will receive their first tax bills that list the new levy April 1.

The rate is a 300 percent boost over the former 11-cent amount.

Patient days down

Rukstad’s fourth-quarter financial review showed that the number of days patients spent in the hospital were down 11 percent in January and 14 percent in February, compared to the same months last year.

Chris Rivard of the Seattle-based Moss Adams accounting firm told the commissioners that OMC’s revenue-to-expense ratio is healthy.

“It goes to prove, when you take a look at it, year after year we’re conservative fiscally, and it shows,” Leskinovitch said.

During this economic downturn, hospitals that have made risky investments are paying for it, he said.

“We’ve really managed our investments very well.”

Public hearing

Hospital staff opened an adjacent room and brought in extra chairs Wednesday to accommodate the crowd attending a public hearing on the I-1000, which preceded the commissioners’ 4-2 vote of non-participation.

“We expected a large turnout of the public,” said Jeff Anderson, OMC marketing manager.

“Everyone got a chance to voice their opinion. Our board voted with their input in mind, and the ethics advisory committee’s input in mind.”

The Death with Dignity Act went into effect Thursday. It allows some terminally ill patients to self-administer life-ending medication.

At the end of the meeting, Leskinovitch announced that Commissioner Cindy Witham had resigned.

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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.

Eric Lewis, CEO of Olympic Medical Center, had much the same message concerning the hospital before and after voters approved its levy lid lift on Aug. 19:

“Cost management and improved efficiency is really going to be the key,” he told Peninsula Daily News.

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work to remain viable.”