Inslee Stops Pierce County From Dissolving Health Department

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — The Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department will remain intact after all, at least for the foreseeable future.

Speaking at a news conference Monday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he had signed a proclamation putting a pause on all efforts to dissolve or dismantle existing health departments. The Pierce County Council had been set to vote Tuesday on such a proposal, which would have begun dissolving the Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department and replacing it with a new department run exclusively by the county. Currently, the department is run by a board of health which includes members from both the Pierce County Council and Tacoma city leadership.

While announcing the pause, Inslee called out Pierce County by name, saying it was not an appropriate time to consider such a drastic move in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

"This pause is necessary to ensure that we have a continuity and stability of our public health efforts throughout this pandemic," Inslee said.

According to the governor, during the pause the proclamation will allow a health department to be dissolved only if:

• All parties agree to the termination.

• If one party can receive approval from the state Department of Health.

Neither option seems likely for Pierce County. The first would require the support from Tacoma leadership — just last week Tacoma City Council unanimously passed a resolution publicly opposing the dissolution of the health department. Receiving approval from the state Department of Health might be easier, but Secretary of Health John Wiesman has signaled opposition to the dissolution in the past, instead asking the council to take it slow and reconsider making such a massive move during the pandemic.

"Any time a group wants to make this move it has to be carefully considered and examined for what both the advantages are, and what the disadvantages are, maybe the unintended consequences," Wiesman said.

Since the Pierce County Council began discussing the possibility of dissolving the health department earlier this month, most opposition has been focused on the timing of the proposal. The proposal has largely been backed on party lines by Republican council members and would have been passed just weeks before Republicans lose their majority on the Pierce County Council — calling some critics to describe it as an attempted "coup" before Republicans lose power. Other say it's just been unnecessary political theater, at a time when health care workers have other things to worry about, a stance the governor appears to agree with.

"This pause will allow public health workers to focus their energies on the most challenging chapter yet of our pandemic response," Inslee said. "It removes politics from public health, which at this moment would be a reckless and dangerous course because we need these public health folks totally focused on vaccine delivery, efforts to prevent the spread of this pandemic."

Shortly after Inslee announced the pause, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department issued a statement thanking the governor for supporting them while they battle to contain the pandemic:

This is a breaking news story. This page will be updated.

This article originally appeared on the Puyallup Patch