Original State Plan Would have Dissolved County Health Jurisdictions

After a firestorm of opposition and push back, Gov. Inslee's supported bill that would replace county health districts with regional entities has been altered. Why?

The original plan laid out by Inslee during his series of budget goal press conferences contained a plan he did not discuss in publicly: dissolving or doing away with county health districts--including county health boards.

Under his original plan, for example, the Benton Franklin County Health District and the 'controlling' county health board made up of the six B-F Commissioners would be gone.

Inslee wants to see the state divided into 9 regions, which is bringing out a lot of opposition--even some from Democrats.

Lewis County Health Director J.P. Anderson called the plan "shocking," according to the Lewis County Daily Chronicle. House GOP Rep Joe Schmick of Colfax worried, like others, that smaller counties would be oveshadowed in a regional system.

Anderson and other County Health Officers say a regional plan would threaten to supercede decision making by local officials.

Supporters say the bill has already been modified several times, and will continue to be 'tweaked' as more input and comments are taken into consideration. Apparently the dissolving of county health boards is being walked back.

Many House GOP leaders have already said regardless of it's final version, they will vote no. They say it will only lead to state control and decisions that should be made by counties themselves.

To read more about Inslee' regional health district plan, click on the button below.