Seeking residents interested in being appointed to the Whitman County Board of Health in one of three non-elected positions.

July 5, 2021

To: All interested parties,

Subject: Seeking residents interested in being appointed to the Whitman County Board of Health in one of three non-elected positions.

The Whitman County Commissioners on June 21, 2022, as required by HB 1152 (2021 leg session), passed an ordinance effective July 1, 2022 which changes the composition of the Whitman County Board of Health to add three non-elected members to the three existing elected members. The non-elected member positions available are a) Public Health, Health Care Facilities and Providers, b) Consumers of Public Health or c) Other Community Stakeholders. The complete definition of each of these three positions is included in Ordinance # 085864 (see attached). The Whitman County Commissioners are asking for interested persons to fill out an application for appointment to the Board of Health and specify which position they believe they qualify for. The Board of County Commissioners will examine all applications and select the initial three new members.

The Whitman County Board of Health meets every other month starting in January to hear reports from the Public Health Administrator, Staff and the Health Officer regarding health issues affecting residents of Whitman County and to confer with the Health Officer and Public Health Administrator on potential actions necessary to protect public health or control imminent disease threats. They have broad legal authority and responsibility to protect the community’s health as generally defined in RCW 70.05.060 and specifically defined in Whitman County Code 2.08. The Board of Health appoints the Local Health Officer if a vacancy occurs in that position and follows all County employee policies as specified by our county Human Resources department. The annual budget for the Health department, the wage of the Health Officer and hiring of the Health Department Director are overseen by the Board of County Commissioners through their budgetary authority.

Anyone interested can contact the Clerk of the Board Corey Mitzimberg at [email protected] or 509-397-5251 for more information.

Sincerely,

Whitman County Commissioners

Published: July 21 and 28, 2022