OMC Outlines CEO Transition Plan

PORT ANGELES  (January 29, 2020) – Olympic Medical Center’s Board of Commissioners announced to employees on Friday how it plans to proceed with the departure of retiring Chief Executive Officer Eric Lewis on May 1, 2020.

Darryl Wolfe, chief operating officer, has agreed to act as interim chief executive officer upon Lewis’ retirement. The Board anticipates the selection process for chief executive officer to take four to six months.

“We have great confidence that Darryl, along with executives Jennifer Burkhardt, Donna Davison, Dr. Josh Jones, Dr. Scott Kennedy and Ralph Parker, MSN/RN will help make this a smooth transition with a continued focus on operations and our Strategic Plan,” said Board President Jim Leskinovitch.

The Board has assigned a Human Resources Committee – consisting of Tom Oblak (committee chair), Board Secretary John Nutter and Thom Hightower, RN – and the committee will finalize and propose a CEO recruitment plan for the Board of Commissioners to review next month. All seven Board members will be heavily involved with the process, seeking input from hospital and medical staff leaders and others, to determine the best candidate. External and internal applicants will be welcomed.

“We will be looking for a CEO who, like Eric, exemplifies The OMC Way, while prioritizing safety, quality, patient experience and employee engagement,” added Leskinovitch. “He will be difficult to replace; however, we will strive to find a replacement CEO that is qualified and honors our key values.”

Olympic Medical Center’s key values are quality, safety, teamwork, compassion, respect, integrity and stewardship.