With summer coming, the Kitsap Public Health District is in water safety mode.
Dr. Gib Morrow said at the recent KPHD meeting that Kitsap Lake already had a health risk due to algae. The warning was much earlier than usual. The district also is getting the word out warning of the risk of hypothermia in the cold waters, along with drowning. Also, he said from May to September, it’s not a good idea to eat raw local oysters due to health risks.
KPHD administrator Keith Grellner said the state legislature was very supportive of public health in the session that just ended. He said in the operating budget, the state provided an additional $100 million for a total investment of $324 million statewide over the next two years. Getting a piece of that pie are the Department of Health, Board of Health, tribes and local districts, such as KPHD, which received $2.4 million of that.
Grellner said the DOH gets $20 million for COVID funding, as federal money is drying up. The public health emergency on the coronavirus officially ends May 11. About $115 million goes to the Department of Ecology for the Toxics Control Act to clean up contaminated sites. Kitsap’s share of that went from $315,000 to $495,000.
About $5 million goes to DOH for tobacco prevention and control, of which KPHD gets some. Grellner said the state will get $28 million tied to a tax on vaping. He said he doesn’t really like “sin taxes.” He said that’s because they tax things the KPHD wants to get rid of.
Morrow said child immunizations have been way down since COVID. He said measles, for one, has an effective vaccine, but not if you don’t get one. He said in Ohio there have been 73 measles cases, with 26 hospitalized. Morrow said 60 million lives have been saved since 2000 thanks to the measles vaccine.
The county’s health officer said opioid use continues to be a problem in Kitsap. He said last week there were six overdoses, including one death. He also recommended people get hepatitis screenings because you often don’t even know you have it otherwise. He said John Hopkins University is doing a study on health access in Kitsap and should report on it at the KPHD July 11 meeting. Finally, he said data modernization is a pressing public health need.
A report on the KPHD Strategic Plan also was given. Guiding principles include: Prevention, collaboration, quality, equity and innovation. It also plans out initiatives for seven years.
Lastly, vice chair and Poulsbo mayor Becky Erickson was elected KPHD chair for the remainder of the year as County Commissioner Rob Gelder is stepping down and moving on to Thurston County. Gelder had been on the KPHD board for almost 12 years.
There was one public comment. A Poulsbo woman said the KPHD called racism a public health emergency two years ago, yet problems persist. She said a school threat notice was sent to some parents but not all. And a Nazi-related social media post led to an arrest, but no charges from the prosecutor. She said there needs to be better communication between government and its citizens. She called on Erickson, Poulsbo police chief Ron Harding, Sheriff John Gese and NKSD superintendent Laurynn Evans to have a town hall meeting.
