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About Public Health
Supporting the Health, Safety, and Well-being of Our Communities
Learn about our work:
Mission Statement
We partner with our communities to protect and promote the health and resilience of our unique islands.
Our Vision
A healthy, safe, and resilient Island County where everyone can thrive.
Our Core Values
- We Serve with Purpose: We are responsive, reliable, and dedicated to the needs of our community members.
- We Champion Fairness: We strive to ensure everyone has a fair chance to be healthy, working to remove barriers for better health.
- We Build Together: We believe the best solutions are created with our community. We listen and partner to build trust.
- We Lead with Respect: We approach every interaction with dignity, compassion, and open communication.
Our Organization
Island County Public Health includes four divisions that work together to achieve our mission:
- Natural Resources: Supports healthy ecosystems through conservation, restoration, and outreach.
- Community Health: Provides services to support healthy people and families.
- Assessment: Improves our understanding of health to guide community decision-making.
- Environmental Health: Ensures healthy built environments through outreach and regulation.
Defining Health: A Whole-Community Approach
To us, health is more than the absence of illness—it is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. Because health happens where we live, learn, work, and play, we focus on the foundations of a thriving community: safe housing, economic stability, and strong social connections.
Our Approach
We partner to expand access to essential care and resources, creating a stable foundation for health. We champion healthy environments for healthy people, recognizing that our well-being is connected to the land and water around us. We protect the essentials—safe housing, clean water, and spaces for recreation—that allow us to thrive. Finally, we guide decisions with clear data and collaboration, ensuring our resources are invested where they will have the greatest lasting impact.
By integrating these social and environmental supports, we are growing communities where everyone can thrive.
Our Priorities for Thriving Communities
Learn about our priorities for improving community and environmental health in Island County:
Vision
We build a responsive public health system that listens to the community and operates with openness and trust. Our team is diverse, skilled, and equipped with the tools and support they need to solve health challenges and ensure fairness for everyone.
Commitment
We are committed to constant improvement, aligning our resources to deliver better programs. We let the values of our communities guide us, making sure fairness is central to every plan and policy we create. We promise to communicate clearly—both inside our organization and with the public—and to manage public funds responsibly. Finally, we prioritize hiring and supporting a talented workforce, recognizing that our dedicated employees are the heart of our work.
Key Strategies
- Embed health in policy: Use a "Health in All Policies" approach for our plans and strategies, actively including community feedback in the process.
- Strengthen policy development: Establish clear administrative processes to support the Board of Health in creating well-coordinated and effective policies.
- Follow governance guidance: Ensure all programs and services follow the direction of the Board of Commissioners and Board of Health, while using insights from the Community Health Advisory Board.
- Manage funds responsibly: Manage contracts and budgets carefully. We will direct resources specifically to the communities that need them most to address inequities.
- Build a supportive workplace: Create a workplace built on trust, safety, and collaboration (trauma-informed principles). We will support staff wellness and ensure inclusive practices are part of every team.
- Invest in our workforce: Hire, train, and keep a skilled professional team. We will invest in our staff’s growth and use best practices to design our organization effectively.
- Communicate effectively: Share timely, local health information in various formats (social media, print, digital). We will design our communications with the community to ensure they are culturally respectful and easy to understand.
Vision
We foster safe communities and healthy ecosystems by delivering essential environmental health services and leading natural resource stewardship.
Commitment
We protect public health by ensuring the safety of the food we eat, the water we drink, and the places we live. We act as stewards of our island’s natural resources, preserving our water and habitats for the future. We are committed to ensuring that everyone has access to clean air, water, and nature. We achieve this by applying regulations fairly, providing resource stewardship programs, and prioritizing education and outreach.
Key Strategies
- Adapt to climate change: Promote conservation and strong partnerships to handle climate impacts. We will focus on equity and the "One Health" approach (connecting human, animal, and environmental health).
- Strengthen advisory boards: Bring diverse voices into our community advisory boards. We will evaluate projects based on fairness, supporting equitable access to environmental benefits.
- Protect water and habitats: Use the best available science to manage water quality and habitat restoration. We will focus on preventing pollution before it happens by monitoring sensitive ecosystems and promoting compliance.
- Improve permitting services: Take a helpful, service-first approach to regulation. We will guide applicants to help them achieve their goals while ensuring sustainable development.
- Ensure community safety: Deliver fair, consistent, and effective programs for food safety, waste management, septic systems, and other essential environmental health services.
- Streamline processes: Make permitting faster and more consistent. When regulations change, we will involve the community early, communicate clearly, and listen to feedback.
- Expand assistance: Strengthen financial aid programs for clean water projects. We will also provide technical support to partners working on housing, economic opportunities, and recreational spaces.
- Apply a “One Health” approach: Recognize that the health of people, animals, and the environment are interconnected, and ensure our programs protect the well-being of all three.
Vision
We prevent disease and provide essential health services to fill critical gaps in our community. We work with partners to ensure everyone has the basics needed to thrive, including access to healthcare, healthy food, guidance, supportive housing, and safe places to play.
Commitment
We focus on preventing health problems before they start. We do this by making health information easier to understand, providing essential services, and preventing outbreaks. We respect the diverse cultures we serve and consider the whole person—not just their illness. We work side-by-side with the community to design and implement strategies for better physical and nutritional health. Finally, we know that achieving health equity requires teamwork, so we collaborate closely with coalitions and partners across all sectors.
Key Strategies
- Lead prevention programs: Run community programs focused on nutrition, family health, chronic disease, and injury prevention. We will address the root causes of these issues while respecting cultural differences.
- Improve health education: Adapt health materials to fit community needs, using proven methods to ensure they are clear and effective.
- Improve living conditions: Partner with other organizations and people with lived experience to improve the places where we live, work, and play. We support long-term solutions for social factors like housing and income.
- Manage new health threats: Respond quickly to emerging diseases and serve as a trusted resource for partners, including schools, childcare centers, long-term care facilities, and doctors.
- Partner with providers: Build stronger relationships with primary care providers. We will use models like the CDC’s “Practical Playbook” to coordinate teams and launch shared health improvement campaigns.
- Support children and families: deliver essential early intervention services with care and cultural respect, recognizing that the well-being of our children is our highest priority.
Vision
Our communities have the information they need to improve health for everyone. Community voices guide how we make rules and study health. We build strong, trusting relationships with people from all backgrounds. Our team is trained, coordinated, and ready to handle public health emergencies.
Commitment
We promise to collect and share data with the community, not just for them. We focus on building trust with groups that have been historically left out to ensure our work is inclusive. We provide clear, local information to help the community make decisions. Finally, we use lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to better plan for and recover from future emergencies.
Key Strategies
- Work with partners: Coordinate our planning with partners to avoid duplicate work and make it easier for the community to get involved.
- Use data effectively: Use data to set clear goals, track progress, and ensure our programs help rather than harm.
- Share data fairly: Make data easy to find, access, and use so it serves the community’s needs.
- Focus on equity: Consider fairness and social justice in every policy we create and every system we build.
- Make information accessible: Create easy-to-read reports and visuals so everyone can understand our health data and improvement plans.
- Train our team: Keep staff ready to handle emergencies through ongoing training and practice.
- Protect the most vulnerable: Ensure emergency plans specifically address the needs of people with disabilities, older adults, people with chronic diseases, children with special needs, and pregnant people.
Our Community, Our Home
Solving complex health challenges requires working together. As members of this community, we share your desire for a thriving place to call home. We are honored to serve you and look forward to building a healthier future together.