GCHD presents challenging but important work, officials say
Apr. 3—MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Health District has a lot of jobs and, and according to GCHD Administrator Theresa Adkinson, some of them are pretty difficult.
"We have a hard job — I tell staff that all the time," Adkinson said. "We do really hard things. We are part of really hard conversations. But we are also community members, and we too are invested in (the decisions). Everything that we put forward as a public health agency is impacting our own families and lives. We're also living it."
Adkinson said one of GCHD's goals for 2025 is to get more information out there about the organization and its work — and to encourage Grant County residents to talk about things they see as public health issues. The health district is writing a "health improvement plan" that is scheduled for publication in early 2026.
Next week is National Public Health Week, and Adkinson and GCHD administrators took the opportunity to explain some of GCHD's jobs and plans for the future after the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic affected everything in sight, including the GCHD.
Typically, public health events are handled locally, Adkinson said, by the county public health officer and experts on the GCHD staff. The pandemic moved the response to the state and federal level, and the GCHD became the organization that had to pass on the news.
"Things we had historically made the decisions on were shifted once the state emergency was declared. So that did change for us because we became the local messenger," Adkinson said. "It's where we live, it's where our own children go to school. At times, it got very personal for us and the staff. Probably to this day it has still damaged relationships with some of our community leaders."
State officials mostly didn't solicit local reaction, she said.
"Whenever we were able to provide input or get a place at the table, we sought it out to give a local perspective. Oftentimes that wasn't afforded to us," Adkinson said.
Public trust in a lot of institutions — GCHD included — declined as a result of the pandemic, Adkinson said. One of the health district's goals is to build back some of that trust.
"To repair that trust, I think it comes with building relationships, and that's what we've been really working on — really leader-to-leader conversations. If you can get the trust of community leadership, I think that helps," she said.
The GCHD provides a lot of other services, she said, and highlighting those is part of rebuilding lost trust.
Public health can and does encompass a wide range of jobs, including obvious things like food inspection and monitoring drinking water. Stephanie Shopbell, GCHD environmental health manager, said that also includes not-so-obvious things like transfer stations.
"Any time you have an area where there is a lot of garbage, there's a risk for contamination and public health impacts," Shopbell said. "So, we look at things like litter. Are they collecting things that they're not allowed to? How are they managing those and are they managing it appropriately? Also, maintaining the site for vectors like rodents. We don't want a big mouse infestation at the transfer station that spreads into the community because they can transmit disease."
The health district provides community education along with programs promoting health and safety. Maria Vargas, healthy communities and families coordinator, said that includes substance abuse prevention programs and information to help people avoid chronic disease and reduce childhood injury. It also has programs for children and families, as well as information to support children with special needs.
Vargas said some of those programs can be controversial, like the syringe exchange. But use of syringes has decreased among drug users since the types of drugs consumed has changed, Adkinson said.
"The people that come to our syringe service program, a lot of them are not there to actually there to exchange syringes; they're there seeking other services that we offer, such the hygiene kits," Vargas said. "Plus, we have Renew (on site) and sometimes we have recovery navigators there. It's become a safe place for people to come in and connect with another human being without being judged."
One of the GCHD initiatives is the establishment of an opioid task force in 2024 to help address opioid use, according to a district press release. The health district also works to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and works with outside agencies to coordinate weekly food box deliveries throughout Grant County in 2024, it said.
Grant County Health District
1038 W Ivy Ave # 1, Moses Lake
509-766-7960
GrantHealth.org
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