Thank you for visiting the Grant County Health District (GCHD) web site. Explaining our work and what public health does can be challenging due to the fact that most of our work is behind the scenes. I am often asked “Why is the Health District here?” or “I didn’t know that the Health District was involved in that.” Perhaps you’ve never thought about how your local health district benefits you. GCHD works with businesses, county and city planners, property owners and community leaders to create a safe and healthy environment for you and your family. Each of you also contributes to public health by helping to create healthy choices in your home and community. Examples include: providing safe playgrounds for families in your neighborhoods; purchasing fruits and vegetables by shopping at local farmers’ markets; encouraging your children to walk and bike to school; developing healthy workplace policies; and getting a flu shot every year. This is a short list of the many healthy behaviors we see every day. I want to thank you for your role in contributing to the health of the Grant County community. Public health is your health and your community’s health.
GCHD staff work hard to monitor the environmental conditions and enforce the laws that provide you with safe food and water. We also monitor and assess for unhealthy behaviors that affect the health of each and every one of us. Public health battles against contagious diseases and promotes healthier lifestyles. We seek to reduce the incidences of preventable diseases, minimize the consequences of catastrophic events, and provide the basics of sanitation, food safety, and clean water.
The Grant County Board of Health and GCHD staff are continually looking ahead and planning for the future of public health. Thanks to the generous financial support of the county and cities we serve, we are continually working on local issues, and supplementing these efforts through State and Federal grant funded activities.
2016 is bringing many new and exciting opportunities and program improvements. A few highlights include:
- Our Food Inspections will be going electronic, thanks to a successful grant application.
- Our Board adopted an improved Food Ordinance that focuses on the highest risk establishments.
- We will be working with several of our North Central Washington partners in Kittitas, Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan counties to address youth marijuana and tobacco use; improve access to healthy foods and physical activity; and provide healthcare access to pre-diabetes and hypertension interventions.
- The Moses Lake Healthy Beginnings Team is bringing healthcare, public health, Head Start and the City together to tackle the ever increasing obesity rates in our children.
- We will continue to address communicable diseases and the Gonorrhea outbreak among our young adults and teenagers.
- We will visit with healthcare provider offices and school districts to discuss the immunizations of our children.
- Our assessment staff will continue to measure the health of our communities and guide our staff and Board through our first strategic plan that is built with feedback from our communities.
- Our environmental health staff will continue to work with local mosquito control districts and communities concerned about mosquito borne diseases.
You will learn more about what we are doing to better serve you on the various pages of our web site. The important thing to know is that the barriers preventing our community from becoming a healthier one are what motivate us and our work every day.
I hope you find the information you are looking for on our web site. If not, please call us at 509-766-7960. Stay safe, well, and healthy.