Latest news with #SpokaneRegionalHealthDistrict
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Facing extreme health disparities, native voices must be added to Spokane's Board of Health under new state law
May 21—A seat meant to represent tribal communities has remained vacant on the Spokane Regional Health District board for the past three years. A new state law will require multiple tribal voices to be seated on the board overseeing Spokane's public health. The new law is set to remake the local board and potentially double its size. Local health boards must now seat a board member appointed by a local tribe or an urban Indian organization recognized by the Indian Health Service. According to the law's author, that could mean three tribal representatives on the SRHD board, if not more. "This speaks to how representation matters. When we have folks representing directly from their community and having a say in the policy, it is always more effective," said Spokane Rep. Natasha Hill, the Democrat who sponsored and led the bill's passage through the Legislature earlier this year. Because of differing interpretations of a state law passed in 2022, a seat for a tribal representative has been vacant for the past several years. The new law clarifies that the intent is to seat multiple tribal representatives on local health boards. While there is no reservation land in Spokane County, both the Spokane and Kalispel tribes have trust land in Airway Heights where Northern Quest Casino and Spokane Tribe Casino are located. Those lands would call for each tribe to appoint a member to the board. The Native Project provides health services to native peoples in Spokane and is recognized by the Indian Health Service. It would also receive a seat on the SRHD board. Current members of the board said they would discuss how to best implement the new law at their next meeting. "I welcome new voices and experiences on the board. I'm always ready to have new people to help us tackle the hard issues," board president and Spokane County Commissioner Amber Waldref said. Board member and fellow County Commissioner Josh Kerns said the board may make decisions more slowly because of its growing size. Local health boards are required to have a mix of elected officials and community members. As tribal representatives are appointed, more county commissioners or Spokane City Council members may be added too, as state regulations require health boards be evenly divided between elected officials and members of the public. Right now, there are seven members on Spokane's Board of Health, including four elected officials. Under the new law, the body's size could easily double. "This is great for diversity of thought. But things will take longer almost certainly," Kerns said. He said that adding more politicians to the typically nonpartisan health board may make their debates "more political." While ensuring the board would "abide by the law," Spokane County Commissioner Mary Kuney said the new board's composition would be interesting because it will have "the interest of one group more heavily weighted than any other groups in our community." The elected officials on the board have often been predominately made up of the Republican-majority Spokane County Commission. Because of the need to appoint more elected officials alongside Indigenous appointees, progressively aligned members on the Spokane City Council may find themselves on the board. According to Hill, creating large health boards is the intent of her legislation. "We don't need fewer people making decisions. Sometimes that means that things are getting missed. There are blind spots," Hill said. According to the 2020 census, those who identify themselves as American Indian and Alaska Native make up 1.9% of the population in Spokane County. Hill said she was not concerned that the appointment of multiple tribal representatives could be disproportionate to their population. "God forbid we're ruled by a group of natives and Indigenous people whose land we stole. Am I worried about that? Not for a second. Are white folks worried about that? If they believe in a white supremacist system, for sure they are," Hill said. Native health disparities Local health districts inform the public about communicable disease spreading in their community and how to remain healthy. Some, like SRHD, provide direct services such as Spokane's opioid treatment services. Native communities face large health disparities and local health districts sometimes struggle to reach them, according to Native Project's clinic director Dylan Dressler. "We have so many co-morbidities with chronic disease like hypertension, cardiovascular diabetes and mental health like depression and anxiety," she said. "And much of it can go untreated, especially for those who chose to live off the reservation in the cities away from community." American Indian or Alaska Native persons are the only racial group in Washington state whose life expectancy has gone down in this century. According to a 2023 report from the Governor's Indian Health Advisory Council, native life expectancy in the state has fallen from an average of 73.2 years in 2000 to 71.6 years in 2020. Native people had the highest drug overdose death rates across the United States in 2020 and 2022. According to the CDC, 56.6 per 100,000 American Indians died of a drug overdose in 2021, compared to 30.6 per 100,000 for the population as a whole. Dressler applied to be on the board of health in 2020 and 2022. That representation never materialized in Spokane over disagreements whether the law required a single or multiple native representatives. Dressler does not plan to seek appointment to the board as the Native Project representative, but she hopes more tribal and native representation can improve the health of native people in Spokane County. "In the past decade, we were happy if our elders would reach 60 years old. Now, we're seeing their lives extending five to 10 years longer. We're still not at the life expectancy of others, but we are keeping our culture and keeping our elders to tell stories and show us the land and the water important to us," she said.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Are gnats worse right now around the Puget Sound? Here are tips to prevent them
A warmer climate has begun to take hold in the state of Washington, bringing in new hordes of gnats. Black flies, also known as buffalo gnats, can cause irritated, itchy bites but do not typically spread diseases in North America, according to the Spokane Regional Health District's website. The bugs are especially active on cloudy, humid days with little wind, and like to swarm at dawn and dusk, the website says. Weather in the Tacoma area is expected to continue to warm this week, according to the National Weather Service, reaching a high of about 73 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday before dropping off to the 60s and high 50s in the next few days. This will create a warm environment for gnats; they may remain active late in the day, given the longer stretches of spring sunlight. Roberto Bonaccorso, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health, told The News Tribune in an email that populations of biting flies and midges can increase in the warmer months because the environment becomes more favorable for their larvae to develop. Some species may be thriving this spring while others have adapted better to summer weather, he wrote. Tacoma's location along Puget Sound — a large estuarine system — also makes it an attractive place for gnats, who love streams, marshes and lakes, according to the Washington State Department of Health website. If you are bit by a gnat, the insect's saliva is the usual irritant that causes swelling and redness at the bite site; the state Department of Health recommends washing the bite, watching for symptoms of infection — such as pain and further swelling or redness — and avoiding scratching to reduce chances of infection, which can be helped by topical creams. The SRHD recommends wearing light-colored clothing and long pants and sleeves to help avoid gnat bites by covering skin and keeping cool, as the heat absorption of darker colors tends to attract more insects. Last June, The News Tribune spoke with Scott Phillips, executive and medical director at the Washington Poison Center, who said N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, or DEET, as insect repellent and the insecticide permethrin are some of the best options to ward off insects as weather warms.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Spokane proposes spending plan for $1.5 million in opioid settlement funds
Mar. 17—Spokane leaders are planning to allocate $1.5 million of opioid settlement funds towards efforts against addiction in the city. Over the next 13 years, the city will receive approximately $13.3 million related to settlements with opioid distributors. Having already distributed $1 million of the funds, the new $1.5 million allocation proposed by Mayor Lisa Brown and Council President Betsy Wilkerson would fund the Spokane Regional Health District's opioid treatment services, local sobering beds and invest in planning for the future. "It is not lost on me that the opioid crisis has profoundly impacted our community, and it is why I strongly advocate for using opioid settlement dollars to invest in behavioral health treatment," Wilkerson said in a statement. "Now, more than ever, is a critical time to transform these funds into vital resources for those in need." Should the proposal be approved, the city would have $2.2 million opioid settlement dollars remaining on hand. The plan would send $350,000 to expand SRHD's treatment hours and take more walk-in patients. Health District spokesperson Kelli Hawkins said the funds would keep more people from being turned away at treatment services. "We want to help everyone. We know when they come to treatment services, they are ready to get the help they need," she said. Another $500,000 would be directed to Spokane Treatment and Recovering Services for the purchase of additional sobering beds. Earlier this month, Spokane County approved $775,000 for the same program. County Commissioner Mary Kuney said she was "super excited" the city is "coming along with us." "We'd love the city to come along and do more," she said. In a statement, Brown said she hopes to coordinate opioid settlement funding between the city and county. "This regional partnership with Spokane County ensures that opioid settlement funds are used effectively to address both the immediate crisis and its long-term impacts," Brown said. "Together, we are strengthening our community's response to the opioid epidemic and investing in proven solutions." The proposed funding would also help the city plan for future allocations. A project manager would be hired to track the performance of opioid settlement dollars for $139,000. Another $500,000 would support the planning and launch of culturally specific behavioral health treatment. "People of color, and I believe Black men in particular, have some of the lowest rates of success in treatment. And so we need to figure out how we not only expand services but do so in a way that is effective for everyone across the community," said deputy city administrator Maggie Yates.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Flu, whooping cough in full force as dual outbreaks spread in Spokane County
Feb. 28—Spokane County is facing a dual outbreak, with more influenza infections in the first two months of 2025 than entire seasons from the past several years and the state's highest number of whooping cough cases. The rise of flu in the Inland Northwest mirrors the uptick of cases seen across Washington and much of the United States. Through Feb. 22, there have been 524 hospitalizations and 23 deaths in Spokane County related to the flu during the 2024-25 flu season. Cases of the respiratory virus peaked last month — jumping from 133 hospitalizations in December to 228 in January. Through the week ending Feb. 22, there were 148 hospitalizations in February. At its height, flu accounted for 8.3% of all hospital visits in Spokane County during the week ending Feb. 1. As of Feb. 22, that has fallen to 4.8%. The more than 500 flu hospitalizations already exceed the number of such visits in any year since before the 2020-21 flu season when cases dramatically lowered amid COVID-19 lockdown efforts. Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified the flu as "high severity" for all age groups, which it has not done since the 2017-18 season. Spokane flu cases are slightly outpaced by statewide data showing the disease at 4.9% of hospitalizations through Feb. 22 versus 4.8% locally. There have been 177 influenza-related deaths statewide this season. Spokane Regional Health District health officer Francisco Velazquez said influenza was in "full force" in Spokane. "We were talking about this very high peak of flu. Now we're doing better, but we're not out of the woods," Velazquez said. The SRHD leader also speculated that the number of flu cases is likely much higher than what the health district can report. "That rise that we saw was a lot of the sicker patients in the emergency room. But there's a curve of people that never made it to the emergency room or were diagnosed," he said. It is also not too late to receive a flu vaccination, Velazquez added. The shot can still provide protection against contracting the virus and lessen symptoms if infected. Spokane County also remains in a whooping cough outbreak, with 101 cases reported so far this year. That's the most cases of any county, beating out even King County, where only 60 people had fallen ill with the sickness also known as pertussis. Per capita, Spokane also has one of the highest rates of whooping cough cases of any county in Washington at 18.2 cases per 100,000 residents, second only to Adams County at 18.9. It also far outpaces the state average of 5.5 cases per 100,000 residents. Velazquez said he anticipates whooping cough to continue at that rate for the near future. "We do believe that this is going to continue cycling up and down probably for several weeks, if not a couple of months. And unfortunately, that means we will see more cases," he said.
CBS News
11-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
U.S. records most whooping cough deaths since 2017
The U.S. confirmed at least a dozen deaths from whooping cough last year, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That marks the most fatalities from the bacterial infection since a 2017 surge of the illness, which is also known as pertussis. Over the last month, pertussis infections have been rising again. While cases reported to the CDC by health departments dipped over the winter holidays, weekly infections have accelerated for a month straight since then. At least 360 pertussis cases were reported nationwide in last week's update to the CDC's tally of infections. Cases are up 27% from the week before. Weekly cases peaked at 577 late last year, before plummeting to less than 200 over the New Year's holiday. Florida reported 44 cases last week, the most of any state. That displaces Ohio, which had been the state with the most pertussis infections for many recent weeks. Cases have been reported in counties throughout Florida, according to data from the state's health department, with the largest tallies around Miami and Tampa. Similar to other states, most cases reported in Florida have been in children under 5 years old. More than a third of whooping cough cases have been in older kids. "People of all ages are at risk for getting pertussis (whooping cough). Everyone who is not up to date with whooping cough vaccination should get vaccinated," CDC spokesperson Paul Prince said in a statement. Whooping cough can initially be difficult to separate from other cold-causing germs that surge over the colder months. Pertussis infections are called whooping cough because of the sound of severe coughing attacks, which can linger for weeks. Some people are at higher risk of life-threatening complications from whooping cough infections, including babies and people who are not up to date on their vaccines. Prince, the CDC spokesperson, said data on pertussis deaths for January 2025 was not available. Whooping cough deaths can take several weeks to be confirmed. A local health department earlier this month in Washington announced the first whooping cough death in the state since 2011. A 5-year-old had died in November 2024, but was only confirmed as a pertussis death by the CDC in recent weeks. The child had not completed the pertussis vaccine series, the Spokane Regional Health District said in a release, and also had "other health factors that contributed" to their death. "This death serves as a stark reminder of the importance of vaccination, especially for those who are most vulnerable, including infants and young children," Dr. Francisco Velazquez, the county's health officer, said in a statement. Officials have warned for months that the U.S. was likely on track to see a major wave in whooping cough cases. While infections usually climb every three to five years, pertussis was among many germs that were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other changes have also driven up pertussis cases in recent years, including a change in 2020 intended to cut down on missed cases by epidemiologists and waning immunity from pertussis vaccines. "We have been seeing some increase in pertussis cases that are coming through our emergency departments. Not necessarily requiring admission, but coming in for evaluation and treatment," said Dr. Marcos Mestre, chief clinical operations officer at Nicklaus Children's Health System in Miami. He said it had been many years since they had seen a major outbreak of pertussis infections, as opposed to "little pockets of increases" around their system. Mestre said older pertussis patients often come into the emergency room after facing a persistent cough that does not go away after a week or so. Younger babies come in to get evaluated sooner and are at higher risk. "They're coughing to the point that they can't catch their breath. And those are the children we really worry about, when infants are getting infected and that could cause more severe illness," said Mestre. Caregivers are urged to get up to date on their vaccines because that can reduce the risk of passing on an infection to young children, Mestre said. Pregnant moms who get vaccinated also pass on immunity to their children, protecting them as soon as they are born. "It's important that people understand that immunity wanes, even if you are vaccinated as a child. And if you are going to be around infants, we recommend vaccination every 10 years," he said.
