Washington State Public Health Association

Washington State Public Health Association Declares Racism a Public Health Crisis and Sets Action Plan for Washington State The role of public health is to prevent illness, injury, and premature death. Over the past century, public health has improved healthy years of life through safe food and water, curbing tobacco use and exposure, access to vaccines, and much more. Public health must be adaptable and nimble if it is to be successful in its mission. As public health acquires data, assesses societal health, and listens to their communities, it has become clear that racism and health inequities are a clear public health crisis. https://lnkd.in/gBtiH8CW

Join us on Dec. 9th for a dialogue with national and local (WA) leaders. Pre-registration is required. University of Washington Bothell University of Washington UW Bothell School of Nursing and Health Studies

https://nwruralhealth.com/ Registration is open!

Washington State Public Health Association's Board adopted a NO position on I-2117, I-2109, and I-2124. Check out each resolution on their homepage to learn how these initiatives, if successful, will take away valuable public health benefits for our state.

Vote for health! Vote NO on all initiatives on the 2024 ballot. We know it’s confusing, but a NO vote protects these programs that are already in place. Your friends and family may need your help to understand this. We’ve got research about the benefits of these programs over on the front page of our website! www.wspha.org

Please join us in congratulating Represenative Paul Harris for receiving the 2024 Laurie Jinkins Public Health Champion Award! Rep. Harris has a long history of taking on tough public health policies and being a champion for public health. During the 2024 legislative session he fought to make the RSV vaccine available all families in Washington State. His voting record demonstrates that he truly does care about the health of the public. We are happy to honor him with this Public Health Champion title! Paul Harris has represented the people of the 17th district for the last 14 years.

Please join us in congratulating Representative Nicole Macri for the 2024 June Robinson Public Health Funding Award! As vice-chair for the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Macri was a huge champion for ensuring there was funding in the 2024 state budget for Foundational Public Health Services, as well as funding for other public health policies such as housing and substance use prevention and treatment. Nicole Macri was first elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 2016, and represents the 43rd legislative district in Seattle. Thank you for your work to protect the Public's health, Rep. Macri!

Please join us in congratulating the winner of the 2024 Secretary of Health Award: Steve Mitchell, MD FACEP! Dr. Mitchell is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Washington and is the Co-Founder and Medical Director of the WA Medical Coordination Center which was initiated at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WA Medical Coordination Center works to load balance patient care across the Washington state healthcare system and manage healthcare surge events related to any issue that results in a rapid increase in patient volumes – regardless of cause. The WA Medical Coordination Center is a statewide Medical Operations Coordination Center (MOCC) that has managed nearly 12,000 requests from Washington state hospitals since its inception. As an example of their work as a MOCC, during a 6-week period in the winter of 2022, the WA Medical Coordination Center expanded its operations to manage the unprecedented surge in pediatric patients related to the viral respiratory surge or “tripledemic” in WA state. They successfully coordinated each of the 171 requests for assistance from hospitals that had been unable to transfer acutely ill children to pediatric hospitals – half of whom were critically ill and less than a year old. Dr. Mitchell is an emergency physician who formerly served as the Emergency Department Medical Director at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for 11 years before taking on his role at the WA Medical Coordination Center. His wife is an internal medicine physician at the University of Washington and together they have 3 teenagers who keep them busy – one of whom just started college at UCLA. Join us for the awards ceremony at the 2024 Annual Conference in Yakima, WA on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 5:30pm! Umair A. Shah, M.D., M.P.H.

Please join us in congratulating the winner of the 2024 Exceptional Student Award: Mehr Grewal! Mehr Grewal is the Founder and Executive Director of Worth A Shot, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to bridging healthcare disparities and uplifting communities with compassion. Worth A Shot operates in 11 countries, training medical students, organizing community health fairs, donating supplies, and informing communities. Mehr is also a recipient of the Public Health Seattle King County Best Starts for Kids Youth Healing Project Grant. Through this partnership, she organizes and leads "Teen Cafe" groups in partnership with the Bellevue School District and the City of Bellevue. The groups enable teens to build community, learn leadership skills, and connect with mental health resources. Mehr also collaborates with Public Health Seattle King County to conduct multilingual community outreach and vaccination events, enabling thousands of Washingtonians to receive the COVID-19 vaccines. Join us for the awards ceremony at the 2024 Annual Conference in Yakima, WA on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 5:30pm!

Please join us in congratulating the winner of the 2024 Exceptional Student Award: Kisna Prado! Kisna Prado (she/her/ella) is a Research Coordinator at the Center for Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health (ARCH) and a recent graduate of the University of Washington's Community Oriented Public Health Practice (COPHP) Master's at the University of Washington School of Public Health. She is a first-generation daughter of Central American immigrants from Nicaragua and Costa Rica and grew up in a predominately Mexican and Central American immigrant community in Southern California. As a bilingual, Latina public health professional, she grounds herself in the experiences of immigrant, working class communities like her own and is dedicated to centering the voices of those that have been historically marginalized and silenced. She is passionate about health equity research, Latine health issues, and applying community based participatory research and anti racism principles to her work. Join us for the awards ceremony at the 2024 Annual Conference in Yakima, WA on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 5:30pm!