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Board of Health adopts resolution honoring former Washington health secretary Mary Solecki
Summary
The Public Health '1 Seattle & King County Board of Health on April 11 adopted Resolution 25-04 honoring Mary Solecki for decades of leadership in tobacco control, childhood immunization, emergency preparedness and rural public health.
The Public Health '1 Seattle & King County Board of Health voted unanimously April 11 to adopt Resolution 25-04 honoring Mary Solecki for more than four decades of public health leadership in Washington state.
The resolution, moved by Vice Chair Daniels and read into the record by Chair Teresa Mosqueda, cites Solecki's leadership as Washington's secretary of health from 1999 to 2013, credits her role in a comprehensive tobacco prevention and control strategy launched in 1999, and says Washington "dramatically improved childhood immunization rates" under her leadership.
The resolution text read in the meeting states, in part, "We express our deep gratitude and highest respect for Mary Solecki for a lifelong commitment to improving the health of all Washingtonians and affirm that Mary Solecki's impact on public health in Washington will endure for generations to come." Chair Teresa Mosqueda read the resolution into the record before the roll call vote.
Patty Hayes, former director of Public Health '1 Seattle & King County and a colleague of Solecki, addressed the board and recalled working with Solecki for 40 years, including on the creation of the current Washington State Department of Health. Hayes said Solecki "had the ability to take the most complex of situations and communicate them clearly." Hayes told the board she would take the adopted resolution to Solecki's memorial service on April 30 and present it to family and friends.
Clerk Hague conducted a roll call after the discussion. The final vote recorded was 14 ayes; Board Members Lamb, Raikes and Chu were excused. The meeting minutes and the adopted resolution will be attached to the Board's record.
Mosqueda and other board members thanked Hayes for attending and for delivering the resolution to Solecki's family.
Votes at a glance: Resolution 25-04 (Honor Mary Solecki) — mover: Vice Chair Daniels; outcome: adopted; tally recorded as 14 ayes, 0 no, 0 abstain; Board Members Lamb, Raikes and Chu excused.
Background: The resolution credits Solecki with reducing adult smoking rates through a statewide tobacco prevention plan, improving childhood vaccination rates, expanding laboratory and epidemiology capacity for emergency preparedness, early leadership on HIV prevention including needle exchange programs, and helping Washington achieve one of the nation's earliest state health agency accreditations.
