King County Council Town Hall to examine public health challenges

February 25, 2009

Summary

Council, public to discuss public health services and the current funding crisis

Story

As King County residents struggle to make ends meet during the current economic downturn, demand for public health services is increasing. At the same time, King County and Seattle’s Public Health Department is facing a severe funding shortfall, with clinics and other services at risk of being closed in 2010.

The next Metropolitan King County Council Town Hall will bring Councilmembers to Renton Wednesday, March 4, to discuss the services provided by Public Health and the future of these services in our region.

The Town Hall, a special meeting of the Council’s Committee of the Whole, will be held at Valley Medical Center’s Medical Arts Center Auditorium, 400 S 43rd St., Renton. The public is invited to meet with Councilmembers at an informal reception starting at 6:00 p.m. The Town Hall will begin at 6:30 p.m.

“King County is facing a public health funding crisis,” said Council Vice Chair Bob Ferguson, chair of the Committee of the Whole. “This town hall provides citizens with the opportunity to hear and speak about the services threatened with elimination.”

“Public health is a critical function of government and its services are the single greatest factor in maintaining our health,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, chair of the King County Board of Health and host of the Town Hall. “This town hall will serve to inform the public about what public health is, why it’s relevant to every one of us, and why it’s being threatened.”

Public Health is responsible for directing a number of programs designed to protect, promote and provide for the health of the public. The programs include:

• Tracking infectious diseases like tuberculosis, influenza, and STDs, and helping coordinate the medical response;
• Working with grocery stores and restaurants to ensure that employees handle and store food properly and remove dangerous recalled products;
• Ensuring safe drinking water;
• Improving access to health care and providing direct services at 10 clinics; and
• Partnering with businesses and community groups to encourage healthy behaviors.

A panel of community health leaders will discuss Public Health’s role in King County and the impacts of its current budgetary situation. The panel will include:

• Dr. David Fleming, Director, Public Health-Seattle and King County;
• Tom Trompeter, CEO of HealthPoint—formerly Community Health Centers of King County;
• Dr. Kathryn Beattie, Valley Medical Center’s Chief Medical Officer.

The panel will field questions from the audience and Councilmembers will take public testimony on any issue at the end of the program.

More about Town Halls
Town Halls are part of Councilmembers’ initiative to “get out of the courthouse” and into the communities they serve. The first town hall of 2009 was in Carnation to discuss the County’s response to the winter weather emergencies.

Each Town Hall is a special meeting of the Council’s Committee of the Whole, the only standing committee on which all nine members serve. It considers legislation and policy issues of interest to the entire Council.