Olympic Medical Center commissioners unanimously decided to take on a $20 million bond during a recent meeting.

The loan will be used to pay a portion of OMC’s existing debt as well as be invested into the planned cancer center expansion in Sequim, surgical services upgrades and other improvements, said Darryl Wolfe, chief financial officer, during the board’s meeting Dec. 7.

Some $8 million will go toward existing debt, with the other $12 million going toward the improvements.

The Sequim cancer center expansion, an 11,000-square-foot increase to the south, will include additional clinical exam space, a larger pharmacy, more infusion and chair space, and an education space that allows physicians and staff to explain the short- and long-term effects to patients.

The loan, which is through KeyBank, will have a fixed 3.04 percent interest rate for 10 years, Wolfe said.

OMC can pay up to $2 million per year without a penalty. During the first five years, paying any extra would result in a 2-percent penalty and the next two years would have a 1-percent penalty. The remaining three years are penalty-free, he said.

CEO Eric Lewis called the bond manageable and said it was a good time to lock in the interest rate.

“I don’t see (interest rates) getting much lower,” he said. “We’ve never gotten 3 percent on 10-year debt.”

Wolfe agreed. “Debt is something we take seriously and we want to make sure we have a good balance,” he said. “This is the right thing to do.”

After 10 years, OMC can renegotiate the terms of the loan, he said.

Jesse Major is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.