The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum County commissioners decided Tuesday to search of an interim director for the county's Department of Health and Human Services.

Former Director Judy Bright resigned effective the beginning of January, and commissioners have been seeking advice on how to fill the position.

On Tuesday, they spent an hour discussing the situation with Marie Flake, a regional official with the state Department of Health.

Flake described the variety of health departments across the state and talked about the fiscal and political issues facing heath department directors and policy makers.

While it behooves the board to consider and explore options for health department management, "You need somebody in charge," she said.

Commissioners agreed and said they would begin talking with other health departments and service providers such as the Cowlitz Family Health Clinic to see if they might have an interim director.

Local health jurisdictions come in several variations, Flake said.

Some are departments, such as Wahkiakum's, and are governed by a board of health, which is the board of commissioners in Wahkiakum County. Some are districts with their own board of directors and non-county funding sources. (They would go after the same state and federal service contracts which health departments pursue, she said). In rare instances, county government contracts with a hospital for health department services.

A few counties band together to provide services; there are 35 local jurisdictions serving the state's 39 counties, Flake said.

Sometimes the county health officer, who is a physician, is the director; other times, a non-physician is the director. Some departments, including Wahkiakum's, combine the health department with mental health and chemical dependency services to form a department of Health and Human Services.

A county needs to figure out what services it needs to provide and which have funding and then design their health department around those services and funds, Flake said.

Funding cuts that started several years ago began turning programs into "Swiss cheese," Flake said, and DOH Director Mary Selecki led the department in developing an "Agenda for Change." Service providers identified things that keep people from getting sick, steps needed for chronic disease prevention, and ways to use funds as wisely as possible.

Local jurisdictions have been adapting to those policies, and they've started working with changes stemming from federal health care legislation.

"Local jurisdictions are working on developing strategic partnerships for the best health care," Flake said. "That's where it's going. There's lots of sharing of services and personnel."

Commissioner Lisa Marsyla said commissioners have been thinking of these issues and how the director's position could best address them, and that's why they've invited officials from other areas to speak.

"If you were in our shoes, how quickly would you move," Marsyla asked Flake. "What would you do?"

"You need somebody in charge," Flake replied, "that is, an interim director."

Commissioners welcomed the suggestion and said they would talk with other service providers about a possible interim director. Hiring an interim director would give them time to recruit a new director without rushing the process.

They also said they had developed a job description ready to go, and Flake said four counties had recently gone through the hiring process and might have leads on good candidates.