Jessie Stensland filed a report from the Island County Board of Health’s February 16th meeting. The board heard a report that indicates minorities are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 virus. Theresa Sanders, the county’s assessment and healthy communities director, told the board that the pandemic has been the “great revealer” of systemic racism. But efforts to address the issue in Island County were hampered by the Community Health Advisory Board (CHAB), which went on hiatus just after being tasked to evaluate an ordinance on racism as a public health crisis.
County Commissioner Jill Johnson was surprised that Public Health leadership had not alerted the Board of Health. Commissioner Janet St. Clair had been aware of the hiatus and that CHAB had been inactive much of 2020. All three county commissioners serve on the Board of Health, along with Oak Harbor Mayor Bob Severns, Public Hospital Commissioner Grethe Cammermeyer, Captain Corry “Jeb” Kucik of the US Navy, and Dr. Joel McCullough, the county’s Health Officer.
