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County celebrates National Public Health Week; partners outline community-care hub and social-determinants program
Summary
Thurston County marked National Public Health Week at its April 29 meeting; Public Health Director Dr. Jen Freight praised staff and JP Anderson of CHOICE described a regional community-care hub and a pathways program assisting hundreds of residents with social determinants of health.
Thurston County proclaimed the week of April 7, 2025, as National Public Health Week during its April 29 meeting and heard presentations highlighting public-health services and regional partnerships to address social determinants of health.
Dr. Jen Freight, director of Thurston County Public Health and Social Services, described the agency’s work across inspections, disease prevention, vaccination clinics and services for vulnerable residents. “Public health work improves the lives of everyone, especially the most vulnerable among us from the houseless to those with substance use disorder,” she said, and thanked county and partner staff for their daily work.
JP Anderson, CEO of Community Health Organization Improving Care and Equity (CHOICE), described a regional “community care hub” his organization is developing and said CHOICE currently serves roughly 300 people in a pathways program in Thurston County and about 2,000 across the wider region. Anderson said CHOICE partners with counties and tribal nations and contracts with 11 partner organizations; Thurston County Public Health is one of those partners.
Anderson said the hub aims to make services more navigable and to improve visibility of existing resources in the county; he encouraged further collaboration with the county on referral pathways and care coordination. No new county budget or formal commitments were presented during the proclamation segment; presenters framed their remarks as recognition and description of ongoing programs and regional partnerships.
