Olympic Medical Center (OMC) in Port Angeles, Washington, has received a $1 million grant from the Olympic Medical Center Foundation to purchase equipment for OMC’s regional cancer center and emergency room, the Peninsula Daily News reports.

The largest single contribution made to the hospital center in the foundation’s 38-year history represents the proceeds of a recent fundraising event and an anonymous gift. Funds totaling $820,000 will enable the purchase of a CT scan imaging machine for the OMC Cancer Center. In addition, $180,000 will fund the purchase of wheelchairs and stretchers for OMC’s emergency room. In 2022, the foundation has made grants totaling $1.9 million to OMC and expects funding to exceed $2 million by the end of the year.

Hospitals nationwide are under increasing financial pressure as they work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to OMC board president John Nutter, hospitals in Washington State continue to address a $1.7 billion pandemic-related funding shortfall. “[Our finances] are bad and getting worse at the moment, and we are certainly not alone,” he said.

“We are extremely grateful for this donation,” said OMC chief executive Darryl Wolfe. “As we look at the age of a lot of the equipment that we have, we have been fortunate for a long period of time and for many years to have the ability to continually reinvest in our infrastructure, but that is becoming more difficult as we go along…so these gifts are amazing.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Mark Kostich)