Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Thurston County highlights public health workers, partners and a community care hub pilot
Summary
The county proclaimed National Public Health Week and County Public Health Director Dr. Jen Freight and CHOICE CEO JP Anderson described regional partnerships, a pathways program addressing social determinants of health, and plans for a community care hub to coordinate services across counties and tribal nations.
Thurston County commissioners proclaimed the week of April 7, 2025, as National Public Health Week and heard remarks from Dr. Jen Freight, director of Public Health and Social Services, and JP Anderson, CEO of the Community Health Organization Improving Care and Equity (CHOICE).
"Public health work impacts every corner of our lives and every corner of this county," Dr. Jen Freight told commissioners, listing disease prevention, inspections and outreach among the department’s responsibilities.
CHOICE partnership and community hub: JP Anderson described CHOICE’s role as one of nine accountable-community models in Washington that work across seven counties and eight tribal nations. He said CHOICE has about 300 people currently engaged in its local "pathways" program and nearly 2,000 in the region; Thurston County Public Health is one of CHOICE’s contracted partners. Anderson said the organization is developing a community care hub to coordinate social-determinant services and improve visibility and access to supports across the region.
Why it matters: Both speakers asked commissioners to support regional coordination and highlighted that investments in public health infrastructure and partnerships help vulnerable residents — including people experiencing homelessness, people with substance-use disorder and those in rural areas with limited access to care.
Scope and cooperation: Anderson said CHOICE works with 11 partners and that Thurston County’s public-health team is well positioned to lead in regional coordination. Dr. Freight noted the broad set of roles public health staff perform — from nurses and sanitarians to communications and fiscal staff — and framed the work as preventive, often behind the scenes but life-saving.
Outcome: The board issued a proclamation honoring public-health workers and acknowledged continued partnership with CHOICE; there was no vote to change funding or county policy at the meeting.
