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2015- April
w Citt 0 NOw) = "0 ;1* ;.• z o ;1•1 CI : ' •iml CI l' ' = 0 � 0 tu M N .i. 75 ;-' t 1 C tt• cj -4.4 0 � o � � M V V � � �i Citi m•••• •...1•' ." V f • JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH MINUTES Thursday, March 19, 2015 Jefferson County Public Health, 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend WA 98368 Board Members Staff Members Phil Johnson, County Commissioner District#1 Thomas Locke,MD,Health Officer David Sullivan, County Commissioner,District#2 Jean Baldwin,Public Health Dir Kathleen Kler, County Commissioner,District#3 Julia Danskin,Public Health Manager Kris Nelson,Port Townsend City Council Jared Keefer,Environ. Health Dir Sheila Westerman, Chair, Citizen at large Veronica Sliaw,Public Health Deputy Dir Jill Buhler,Hospital Commissioner,District#2 Chair Westerman called the March 19, 2015 meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Health to order at 2:29 p.m. A quorum was present. Members Present: David Sullivan, Jill Buhler, Sheila Westerman, Kathleen Kler, Phil Johnson, Kris Nelson Staff Present: Tom Locke, Jean Baldwin, Jared Keefer, Julia Danskin • APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Westerman asked that Item 1 of new business be moved to the top of the agenda. Chair Westerman called for the approval of the agenda for the 03/19/2015 meeting of the Board of Health. Member Buhler moved to approve the agenda; the motion was seconded by Member Nelson. The motion passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Westerman called for approval of the minutes of the 02/19/2015 meeting of the Board of Health. Member Sullivan moved to approve the minutes as presented; the motion was seconded by Member Buhler. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. • r • Member Sullivan moved that the changes to the Environmental Health Fees be adopted; Member Johnson seconded the motion. No further discussion. The motion passed unanimously. 2. 2014 Environmental Health and Water Quality Performance Measures Mr. Keefer provided the Board with performance measures for the Onsite Sewage (OSS) and Septic Operations & Monitoring (O&M), Drinking Water, and Food Safety Programs. Mr. Keefer informed the Board that Solid Waste will be reviewed at the next Board meeting. Mr. Keefer pointed out to the Board the following: in areas of pass/fail,the goals will continue to be listed until they are passed. If a goal is partially complete it is listed as a fail, even if it is on track. 83% of monitoring inspections resulted in some maintenance needed, including 23.3% needing significant maintenance or repair. While the online Homeowner Authorization Program is not up and running yet, three classes were held for 81 individuals with 75 getting authorization to inspect their OSS. When the online Homeowner Authorization Program is running it will send specific reminders to homeowners, rather than generalized reminders that are currently sent out. In 2014, the Drinking Water Program had a lack of funding, available time, and staffing. 2015 is already showing much improvement with a review turnaround time of 8 days, and a focus on cross-training for staff in water quality. A total of 1,568 food workers were trained, both in person and online. The number of temporary food service permits is 185, • compared to 273 the prior year. This is due to two vendors getting mobile units and no longer needing temporary permits. Mr. Keefer will correct the formatting/editing issues pointed out by Chair Westerman. 3. Measles Outbreak Update Dr. Locke reported to the Board that no positive measles cases have occurred in Jefferson County; Clallam County has five cases. All Clallam County cases are linked to the original case. Clallam County is still in a state of heightened surveillance mode until two cycles of incubation are over, which will be in April. Dr. Locke reported an increase in interest for vaccines, and pointed out to the Board that clinics are offering extended hours. 4. School Entry Vaccination Levels—Jefferson County Dr. Locke reviewed the School Entry Vaccination Levels for Jefferson County. He informed the Board that all states require vaccines, but the exemptions allowed for religious, philosophical/personal, and medical exemptions vary between states. Immunization levels in Jefferson County schools were reviewed with the Board. 5. Vaccine Hesitancy—State and National Efforts to Increase Community Immunization Levels Dr. Locke provided the Board with the following articles about vaccines and the science of vaccine hesitancy: Bills Banning Most Vaccine Exemptions Fail in Northwest, What • doctors should tell parents who are afraid of vaccines, and Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children. • JEFFERSON CO TY BOARD OF HEALTH Phil Jo s.,' ember Jill Buhler, Member David Sullivan, Membe Sheila Westerman, Chair //.e. Kris Nelson, Member athleen Kler, Member Respectfully Submitted: Natalie Crump • '4w. ..' 0 Ad ID: 140367 /,./'' , f 9� RECEIVED Pre—Bill o! claw/caber) MAY 18 2015 .5 Adams Street • Port Townsend, WA 98368 • 360-385-2900 Jefferson County Public Health Bill to: Sold to: Account ID: 11545 Jean Baldwin Natalie Crump JeffCo Public Health JeffCo Public Health 615 Sheridan Street 615 Sheridan Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 Port Townsend, WA 98368 Please pay from this Pre-Bill. Return stub with paymeni Rep ID: DR Terms: Net 30 Description Classification of Ad: 460—County Notices Zone: A PO: Notice of Mtg Cancellation Text: JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH NOTICE OF MEETING CANC... Charges from 4/15/2015 to 4/15/2015 Date Pub Type Description Price Discount Applied Due 4/15/15 PTL Ad LEGALS: JEFFERSON COUNTY- $12.00 -$12.00 $0.00 • $12.00 -$12.00 $0.00 Please return this portion with your payment. Pre—Bill Remit Payment to: Port Townsend Leader Amount Due $0.00 226 Adams Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 Phone: 360-385-2900 Fax: 360-385-3422 Amount Enclosed Issue Date: 4/15/2015 1110 Jean Baldwin Pre-Bill Date: 5/13/2015 JeffCo Public Health 615 Sheridan Street Ad # 140367 Port Townsend, WA 98368 Account# 11545 • Affidavit of Publication STATE OF WASHINGTON) SS COUNTY OF JEFFERSON) I, Donna J. Rosmaier, an employee of the Port Townsend& Jefferson County Leader, a weekly newspaper which has been established,pub- County Notices lished in the English language and circulated continuously as a weekly Jefferson County newspaper in the town of Port Townsend in said County and State, and Public Notices for general circulation in said county for more than six (6) months prior SON co to the date of first publication of the Notice hereto attached and that the said Port Townsend &Jefferson County Leader was on the 27th day of June 1941 approved as a legal newspaper by the Superior Court of said ,14'/Ti"iil o� Jefferson County and annexed is a true copy of the Ad # 1140a01 www.co.jefferson.wa.us JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH SEE ATTACHED NEWSPAPER CLIPPING NOTICE OF MEETING CANCELLATION: The Jefferson County Board of Health has cancelled their regular monthly meeting S scheduled for Thursday,April 16 at 2:30 p.m. As it appeared in the regular and entire issue of said paper itself not at Jefferson County Public Health. 1� P in a supplement thereof for a period of 1 weekly beginning on the The next meeting is scheduled for , Thursday, May 21 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 ICJ day of c \ 2015, ending on the ay of p.m.held at Jefferson County Public 40 67 4/15 1°A-1?(Z\ , 2015, that said newspaper was regularly disc buted to their subscribers during all of this period. That the full amount of $ la ,OC) has been paid in full, at the rate of $8.00 per column inch for each insertion. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13 day of Mem 2015. Do fa J. Rosmaier � SEN Notary Public in and for the State of Washington.Residing at Port Townsend. 004 0T a. N UBL.�G .!0 9T °BER o�•`��� OF WAST' • A /�� I.' > RECEIVED Ad I 1Pre-39025 II . �; APR 2 4 2015 „pie 4f Paa fi •226 Adams Street • Port Townsend, WA 98368 • 360-385-2900 Jefferson County Public Health Bill to: Sold to: Account ID: 11545 Jean Baldwin Denise Banker JeffCo Public Health JeffCo Public Health 615 Sheridan Street 615 Sheridan Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 Port Townsend, WA 98368 Please pay from this Pre-Bill. Return stub with payment Rep ID: DR Terms: Net 30 Description Classification of Ad: 460—County Notices Zone: A PO: Meeting notice 3/19/15 Text: JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARI... Charges from 3/4/2015 to 3/4/2015 Date Pub Type Description Price Discount Applied Due 3/4/15 PTL Ad LEGALS: JEFFERSON COUNTY- $30.00 -$30.00 $0.00 • $30.00 -$30.00 $0.00 Please return this portion with your payment. iliRemit Payment to: Pre-Bill Port Townsend Leader Amount Due $0.00 226 Adams Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 Phone: 360-385-2900 Fax: 360-385-3422 Amount Enclosed Issue Date: 3/4/2015 Jean Baldwin Pre-Bill Date: 4/21/2015 JeffCo Public Health 615 Sheridan Street Ad # 139025 Port Townsend, WA 98368 Account# 11545 • Affidavit of Publication STATE OF WASHINGTON) SS COUNTY OF JEFFERSON) I, Donna J. Rosmaier, an employee of the Port Townsend& Jefferson County Leader, a weekly newspaper which has been established, pub- lished in the English language and circulated continuously as a weekly newspaper in the town of Port Townsend in said County and State, and for general circulation in said county for more than six (6) months prior to the date of first publication of the Notice hereto attached and that the said Port Townsend& Jefferson County Leader was on the 27th day of June 1941 approved as a legal newspaper by the Superior Court of said Jefferson County and annexed is a true copy of the Ad # 'i 3cAO a 5 SEE ATTACHED NEWSPAPER CLIPPING • As it appeared in the regular and entire issue of said paper itself not in a supplement thereof for a period of k weeki, beginning on the 4 day of Mar OlN , 2015, ending on the 4 day of mlif of\ , 2015, that said newspaper was regularly distributed to their subscribers during all of this period. That the full amount of $ 30 .0 co has been paid in full, at the rate of $8.00 per column inch for each insertion. Subscribed and sworn to before me this a, day of i4Q6 r 2015. A64(41(-1-- pJ.Rps I4-2 o ��MENT�M?q� Do �J. Rosmaier a �� �� Notary Public in and for the State of Washington.Residing at Port Townsend. �OTAgy $1 Q r 17'�F T�41ER 0 /t:; Op WASNA\ • Jefferson County Public Health M C Or PrfiaL2015 v- NEWS ARTICLES 1. "Fifth measles case confirmed in Clallam County," Peninsula Daily News, March 14th, 2015. 2. "Measles vaccination clinics set this week in Jefferson County," Peninsula Daily News, March 15th, 2015 3. "Citizens group wants to see abortion offered in Jefferson County," Peninsula Daily News, March 15th, 2015. 4. "Latest Clallam measles victim was believed to be immune to disease," Peninsula Daily News, March 16th, 2015. 5. "Bills live, die as deadline passes," Peninsula Daily News, March 16th, 2015. 6. "Free Septic System Classes Offered by Jefferson County Public Health," Port Townsend Leader, March 18th, 2015. 7. "Health care officials to meet with ACLU, start reproductive task force," Port Townsend Leader, March 18th, 2015. 8. "New owners to put$40M into PT mill," Port Townsend Leader, March 18th, 2015. 9. "Port Hadlock eatery featured on TV show says it may close because of lease," Peninsula Daily News, March 19th, 2015. 10. "Septics classes," Peninsula Daily News, March 20th, 2015. 11. "Neighbors use lawsuit to snuff marijuana business," Port Townsend Leader, March 25th, 2015. 12. "Port Hadlock eatery from `Restaurant Impossible' to close tonight, but future in Sequim being considered," Peninsula Daily News, March 26th, 2015. •13. "Dr. Jeffrey Duchin and his disease detectives are on the case(s)," Seattle Times/Pacific NW Magazine, March 26th, 2015. 14. "Public health officer: Cost of Clallam measles outbreak could reach $200,000," Peninsula Daily News, March 27th, 2015. 15. "Hospital's expo Saturday in Port Townsend gathers resources for those looking to stay health and fit," Peninsula Daily News, March 27th, 2015. 16. "Studies: Health ranking finds Jefferson County healthier than Clallam County," Peninsula Daily News, March 27th, 2015. 17. "2015 Health Heroes help county's youths," Peninsula Daily News, March 30th, 2015. 18. "Port Angeles police first law enforcement agency on Peninsula to be armed with drug overdose antidote," Peninsula Daily News, March 30th, 2015. 19. "Port Townsend Farmers Market to open Saturday with visit from state official," Peninsula Daily News, March 31st, 2015. 20. "State health secretary to visit PT Farmers Market on opening day," Port Townsend Leader, April 1St, 2015. 21. "Jefferson Healthcare nurses to attend SANE training," Port Townsend Leader, April 1st, 2015. 22. "Hospital board continues to hear public on abortion," Port Townsend Leader, April 1st, 2015. 23. "Jefferson County Board of Health announces 2015 Public Health Heroes," Port Townsend Leader, April 1st, 2015. 24. "#Healthiest NextGen celebrates farmers markets season in Port Townsend," WA State DOH News Release, April 3rd, 2015. 25. "Strait of Juan de Fuca beaches in Clallam closed to shellfish harvest," Peninsula Daily News, April 5th, 2015. 26. "Flu season over on Peninsula, health officer says," Peninsula Daily News, April 6th, 2015. • 27. "Measles outbreak prompts hundreds on Peninsula to take their best shot," Peninsula Daily News, April 6th, 2015. Fifth measles case confirmed in Clallam County By James Casey, Peninsula Daily News, March 14th, 2015 PORT ANGELES — Clallam County public health authorities have confirmed a fifth case of measles. e patient is an adult man livingin Port Angeles g who is related to people previously diagnosed with the disease. Because the man had quarantined himself, he had no contact with susceptible people while he was contagious, but the case widens the "window" of possible infection to April 19, health officials said. The new cases extends the time during which public health officials can expect more cases. After the fourth case was diagnosed in late February, officials said that the window of contagion would close April 6. The man with the fifth confirmed case of measles had been inoculated against the highly-contagious disease but with a vaccine that was used from 1957 to 1971 and does not protect people as well as present immunizations, health authorities said. Partly because of that, Clallam County Health and Human Services Iva Burks urged adults who have had a single shot of the old vaccine, as well as any who are unvaccinated, to come to no-cost clinics Monday, Thursday and Saturday. All the clinics will be held at the public health office, 111 E. Third St., Port Angeles. lile schedule: • 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday —Walk-in clinic for which appointments are not necessary. • 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday —Appointments are recommended, although walk-ins will be seen. • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday —Walk-in clinic. For details, call 360-417-2274. The latest measles patient suffered an onset of the ailment's telltale rash on March 4, Burks said. Results from a test sent to the state lab on Wednesday were received late Thursday, confirming the diagnosis. He became the fifth person in a string of Clallam County cases first diagnosed in an adult male who was hospitalized Feb. 1 in Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and has since recovered. A second man and a 5-year-old girl caught measles after exposure to that patient. A 14-year-old sibling of the kindergarten girl contracted measles after exposure to her. The latest patient was a relative to two previously diagnosed cases, but Burks declined to specify which ones 4 e to federal health-privacy regulations. The most recent case is the first in Clallam County reported in an inoculated person. Earlier, a juvenile who had received the modern measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine developed a rash that was found not to be actual measles. Instead it was a reaction to the vaccine. No measles cases have been confirmed in Jefferson County. 4IL current measles vaccine is highly effective, Dr. Jeannette Stehr-Green, interim Clallam County health officer. People who receive a single MMR shot have a 95 percent chance of immunity, she said. Those who receive a recommended second shot have a 97-99 percent chance of immunity. Current public health recommendations are for children to receive the first dose at 12-15 months of age and the second when they are 4-6 years old. Adults born after 1957 should have at least one vaccination. Some people, including healthcare workers, should receive a second dose. "We are not out of the woods yet with this outbreak," Stehr-Green said. "It is vital to get vaccinated to protect yourself and your family against measles as well as those who cannot be vaccinated, including babies, pregnant women, and immune suppressed people." In Jefferson County, vaccination clinics are held at the Jefferson County Public Health Clinic at 615 Sheridan St. and Jefferson Healthcare hospital's primary care clinic at 915 Sheridan St., in Port Townsend. The county clinic operates from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and offers the MMR vaccine on a ok-in basis. Jefferson Healthcare's clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Vaccinations aren't available for walk-ins. People must schedule them by calling 360-379-8031. The vaccine is free to children, but both the public health and hospital clinic charge an administrative fee billable to insurance. For more Clallam County information, see http://tinyurl.com/PDN-measlesalerts. For more in Jefferson County, visit www.1effersoncountypublichealth.org. Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey(a�peninsuladailynews.corn • 111 Measles vaccination clinics set this week in Jefferson County PENINSULA DAILY NEWS The county clinic operates • PORT TOWNSEND—A from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tues- a fifth case of measles in days and Thursdays and offers the MMR vaccine on a Clallam County was con- firmed in a Port Angeles man walk-in basis. on Friday, and while there Jefferson Healthcare's have been no measles cases clinic is open from 8 a.m.to 5 in Jefferson County, officials p.m. Mondays through Fri- are reminding individuals to days. Vaccinations aren't get vaccinated. available for walk-ins.People Clinics are held at the Jef- must schedule them by ferson County Public Health phoning 360-379-8031. Clinic at 615 Sheridan St. The vaccine is free to chil- and Jefferson Healthcare dren, but both the public hospital's primary care clinic health and hospital clinic • at 915 Sheridan St., both in charge an administrative fee Port Townsend. billable to insurance. • • / /)/i/ Citizens group wants to see abortion offered in Jefferson County By Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News, March 15th, 2015 • Lae\ & INNNe4 I C �®E i 417 s. opr �. .. ... Wim. Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News Jefferson Healthcare Commissioner Chuck Russell and citizen Debbie Jahnke listen to a presentation at a meeting Thursday where abortion services at the hospital in Port Townsend were discussed. PORT TOWNSEND —A group formed to push for abortion services in East Jefferson County doesn't care about the reasons the service isn't provided in the county now. They just want a change. SAbortlon needs to be available in Jefferson County," said Julie Jamon of Port Townsend at a strategy meeting at Manresa Castle on Thursday night. "I can't believe we are still talking about this in the 21st century." County residents plan to attend the next Jefferson Healthcare hospital commissioners' meeting — set for 2 p.m. March 24 in the hospital auditorium, 834 Sheridan St., Port Townsend — and send emails to CEO Mike Glenn and commissioners to make their point. The issue was prompted by a Feb. 18 letter addressed to the hospital board and CEO Mike Glenn from the Seattle office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The letter accused the East Jefferson County hospital of being out of compliance with state law because it doesn't perform abortions on-site. Patients seeking abortions are referred to clinics in Port Angeles, Bremerton or Seattle, said Julia Danskin, a nurse with the Jefferson County Department of Public Health. Hospital officials have said the lack of abortion services is not a matter of policy but rather of practicality. They point to the number of abortion requests — 55 in 2013 — and say this low number makes it difficult for abortion providers to establish a presence in the county. While Glenn has not yet formally responded to the ACLU, hospital officials are creating a task force to examine and discuss the issue, Kate Burke, the hospital's marketing director, said Friday. Thursday's strategy meeting was attended by 30 people, including hospital commissioners Marie Dressler and Chuck Russell and a representative of the ACLU. The gathering was a follow-up to a March 5 commissioners meeting where several people urged the hospital to offer pregnancy termination services in the wake of the ACLU letter. The ACLU asked the hospital to change its policies and practices "to fulfill its obligations under the Reproductive Privacy Act." The ACLU was represented Thursday by Jane Whicher of Port Townsend, who once served as an attorney for the group. "Our position is a simple one: that Washington law requires any public hospital that provides a full range of maternity services, which our hospital does, that it also must provide a full range of pregnancy- termination services," Whicher said. In the letter to Jefferson Healthcare, the ACLU cites an August 2013 state attorney general opinion. The opinion says state law requires a public hospital that provides maternity care service or information to also provide "substantially equivalent benefits, services or information" regarding contraception and abortion. "We express no opinion on exactly how hospital districts may comply with this requirement," the attorney general's opinion says. .The ACLU is disputing the idea that referring patients off-site for abortions is substantially equivalent to the maternity care the hospital offers. "We think this is a problem that is solvable short of litigation," Whicher said Thursday. "Nobody wants that. "We think the resources of the hospital ought to be going into providing services including pregnancy termination for the women who want it." Dressler explained the hospital's position. "If we offer a service, it's important that we do it in the very safest way and with the highest quality," she said. "If someone is messing around with my uterus, I want them to be doing those procedures every day and several times a day. "I don't want someone taking care of me who doesn't do it on a regular basis." Whicher told the group it can promote awareness and perhaps bring pressure on the hospital. "We should take a lot of the frustration and anger in this room and try to be forward-looking," she said. "The hospital has to want to change." Said Russell: "When you say that you want to get the hospital on board, it assumes they are not on board, and that's not necessarily true. "You are going to accomplish a lot more by not being angry and not being confrontational." According to the state Department of Health's statistics for 2013, Jefferson County had the second ohig heper capita rate of abortions in the state, with 15.5 out of 1,000 women between 14 and 44 opting for the procedure. The highest rate was Pierce County, with 16.8 per 1,000, or 2,794 abortions. Neighboring Clallam County, with an 11.8-per-1,000 rate and 121 abortions, came in 11th. The ACLU also sent letters of concern to Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville and Mason General Hospital in Shelton, and filed a lawsuit against Skagit Valley Hospital. Neither Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles nor Forks Community Hospital —the other two hospitals on the North Olympic Peninsula — received letters from the ACLU. Hospital officials plan to meet with ACLU representatives the week of March 23, Burke said. Also, hospital officials are creating a reproductive services task force composed of health care providers to review services and perhaps recommend they be expanded, she added. "The task force will base its recommendations on community need and our ability to provide any new service in a safe, high-quality, compassionate and sustainable manner," she said. Glenn plans to talk about these issues March 24. •That meeting will include a public comment period for members of the public, and the strategy group discussed how the group should approach the board: with one spokesman delivering a crafted message or several people addressing commissioners. A petition drive also was discussed. Rick Jahnke of Port Townsend said the group should wait for the hospital's response to the ACLU. "It may be 'We agree with you there's a need and we are working toward providing that," he said, so "you don't really need to go down that route." Said Whicher: "We don't care why they change their policy, whether it is a matter of law or a matter of policy. "We just want those services to be available." Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant peninsuladaiiynews.com. Latest Clallam measles victim was believed to be immune to disease Peninsula Daily News, March 161h, 2015 Characteristics of measles xba cY s Arash pra ]o �lasting f vo brairtharg tn Vif110lo sts days m contarng S rgrtels appears 1.0111 or by 7oudrtng _ the faces and surfaces talurd '` head,b the irg saAaces. - 1010091'the tarso to the hands and loot 2,h2 USS grow t1,a The veus aan',, in the arra of Uw " t pe prior I tram throat and rungs four days prior 0 and Symptom, a ally.10 to appearalter appnarartaydl the days. act, 3 Nfect d �P parss t ass ..,6 loser our da 1twooto tour aays to0lownd by a xrughrunny nose and rod — watery eyes.. New York Times News Service Clallam County Health and Human Services has scheduled clinics for measles vaccination on three days this week. Clinics are no-cost for both children and adults. All the clinics will be at the public health office, 111 E. Third St., Port Angeles. The schedule is: • 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday—Walk-in clinic for which appointments are not necessary. ■ 8:30 a.m.to 4 p.m.Thursday—Appointments are recommended, although walk-ins will be seen. • 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday—Walk-in clinic. 411 For details, call 360-417-2274. In Jefferson County, vaccination clinics are held at the Jefferson County Public Health Clinic at 615 Sheridan St. and Jefferson Healthcare hospital's primary care clinic at 915 Sheridan St., both in Port Townsend. The county clinic operates from 1 p.m.to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and offers the MMR vaccine on a walk-in basis. Jefferson Healthcare's clinic is open from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Vaccinations aren't available for walk-ins. People must schedule them by calling 360-379-8031. The vaccine is free to children, but both the public health and hospital clinic charge an administrative fee billable to insurance. PORT ANGELES —A Port Angeles man related to people who caught measles this year has come down with the highly contagious disease despite having been vaccinated at least 44 years ago. The case is the fifth confirmed in Clallam County since Feb. 1. No cases have been confirmed in neighboring Jefferson County. No age was provided for the man, who had been considered immune because he was vaccinated against the disease decades ago. It is the first case in Clallam County reported in an inoculated person. Public health authorities said he had quarantined himself during the time he would have been contagious, so had had no contact with susceptible people. Nevertheless, the case widens the window of possible infection —the time during which public health officials could expect more cases —to April 19, health officials said. After the fourth case was diagnosed in late February, officials said the window of contagion would close April 6. The man whose infection was confirmed by a state lab test late Thursday had been inoculated with the vaccine 0hsed between 1957 and 1971. at vaccine does not protect people as well as present immunizations, health authorities said. Clallam County Health and Human Services Iva Burks urged adults who have had a single shot of the old vaccine, as well as any who are unvaccinated, to come to no-cost clinics Monday, Thursday and Saturday. The man suffered an onset of the ailment's telltale rash March 4, Burks said. The first in a string of measles cases in Clallam County was a 52-year-old man who was hospitalized Feb. 1 in Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and has since recovered. A second man, 43, and a 5-year-old girl caught measles after exposure to that patient. A 14-year-old sibling of the kindergarten girl contracted measles after exposure to her. The latest patient was a relative of two of the people who have had measles in Clallam County this year. Burks declined to specify which ones due to federal health-privacy regulations. Earlier, a juvenile who had received the modern measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine developed a rash that was found not to be actual measles. Instead, it was a reaction to the vaccine. The current measles vaccine is highly effective, said Dr. Jeannette Stehr-Green, interim Clallam County health officer. ople who receive a single MMR shot have a 95 percent chance of immunity, she said, and those who ceive a recommended second shot have a 97 percent to 99 percent chance of immunity. Children should receive the first dose at 12-15 months of age and the second when they are between 4 and 6 years old, authorities said. Adults born after 1957 should have at least one vaccination. Some people, including health care workers, should receive a second dose. "It is vital to get vaccinated to protect yourself and your family against measles as well as those who cannot be vaccinated, including babies, pregnant women and immune-suppressed people," Stehr-Green said. Seven cases of measles have been reported statewide. Two were in Grays Harbor County and one in Whatcom County. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 173 people in 17 states caught the disease between Jan. 1 and March 6. Of those, 127 cases are linked to an outbreak that began in Disneyland. Clallam County measles are not linked to that outbreak, officials have said, but rather are a type of measles common in Asia and the Philippines. For more Clallam County information, see http://tinyurl.com/PDN-measlesalerts., •more in Jefferson County, visit www.ieffersoncountypublichealth.org. EYE ON OLYMPIA: Bills live, die as deadline passes By James Casey, Peninsula Daily News, March 16th,2015 • STATE REPRESENTATIVES Steve Tharinger and Kevin Van De Wege will hold a Telephone Town Hall from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.today(Monday, March 16). Participants may call 877-229-8493 and enter the PIN 18646. Tharinger and Van De Wege, both Democrats from Sequim,will field comments from constituents and answer questions about what they have accomplished this legislative session. They and state Sen. Jim Hargrove represent the 24th District that includes all of Clallam and Jefferson counties and most of Grays Harbor County. OLYMPIA— Now it all depends on the other guys. Wednesday marked the cutoff for legislation to emerge from the state House of Representatives or the state Senate. Bills passed by one chamber go to the other for consideration. Among the bills that died was one Rep. Steve Tharinger cosponsored to deny personal and philosophical exemptions from the vaccinations required for schoolchildren. "We went dancing in and out of the realm of reason," Tharinger, a Sequim Democrat, said of opposition to the bill sponsored by Rep. June Robinson, a Democrat from Everett. The proposed legislation would have authorized only medical or religious reasons for a parent or guardian to exempt children from vaccinations against such diseases as measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, Hepatitis B and polio. •"There just weren't enough votes to get it to the floor," Tharinger said, despite a state outbreak of eight p 9 cases of measles this year. The number confirmed in Clallam County climbed to five on Thursday. Two cases were reported in Grays Harbor County and one in Whatcom County. Tharinger had better luck with a bipartisan bill he backs that would reduce the state's Business & Occupation Tax for startup enterprises capitalized at $500,000 or less. That monetary limit might drop to $250,000, he said, but it still would help businesses just starting out that are making big initial investments in machinery, marketing or personnel. "Hopefully it's something we can get done by the end of the session," he said, adding that the legislation would be revenue neutral by eliminating other B&O exemptions "so there's a simpler tax code." Meanwhile, state Rep. Kevin Van De Wege lost his bid to attach prison penalties to violations of the state's campaign contribution laws. The legislation grew from Olympic Ambulance owner Bill Littlejohn's paying employees to fund a fight against adding paramedic services in Clallam County Fire District 2. The 2013 tax levy failed, but Littlejohn was fined $60,000, a fine later reduced by half. Under Van De Wege's bill, such a violator could face a prison sentence. Van De Wege's successes in bills moved from the House to the Senate included his renewed efforts to ban toxic flame-retardant chemicals in furniture and children's merchandise, to outlaw computer-driven ticket buyouts for sporting and entertainment events, and to reign in companies that collect copyright .royalties from small venues that present live entertainment. State Sen. Jim Hargrove's survivors included his Justice Reinvestment Initiative that would trim some sentences for property offenders but extend corrections department supervision of paroled property offenders. However, Hargrove deplored a Senate-passed bill regulating oil transportation because it did not address safety standards for ships and barges that carry oil on Grays Harbor and the Columbia river waterways. "We must ensure we are doing everything we can to protect vulnerable communities and waterways," he said in a statement early last week. "This legislation falls short." Now each legislative chamber has three weeks to prepare its own budget. Then the House and Senate must reconcile the two spending plans into a single financial bill. Hargrove said he would work to restore "at least" the $5 million that was pared from the last session's spending bill to help fund a $14.4 million project to move refuse from an eroding bluff at the shuttered Port Angeles landfill and shore up the bluff. Looming behind the deliberations is the state Supreme Court's order in its McCleary decision that legislators must fully fund basic education or face a contempt penalty. "Not to do it would be to present the court with some interesting choices to apply with the contempt order that they put in force last fall," Hargrove said. "I think we can avoid a constitutional crisis and get our job done." He said that might require "new resources, not necessarily taxes. "Fees and assessment might do part of that." Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey[7peninsuladailynews.corn • Free Septic System Classes Offered By Jefferson County deo rt Public Healthbi Mit] To Obtain Authorization to Public Health Inspect your septic system Pre-Registration is required — Space is limited. Septics 101: Basics of septic system operation and maintenance. Learn how your septic system works and how you can protect your investment in this important part of your home. Septics 201: Step by Step inspection of the septic system and reporting the results. How to identify warning signs in your system, and when to call in the professionals. The class is a combo of Septics 101. and 201. If your system is eligible and you have completed both the 101 and 201 classes,you can apply for authorization to inspect your septic system. March 26th, Thursday, 5pm --9pm Tri-Area Community Center, 10 W.Valley Rd., Chimacum March 27th, 9:00am — 1:00pm Tri-Area Community Center, 10 W.Valley Rd., Chimacum April 7th, Tuesday, 9:00am — 1:00pm Quilcene Community Center, 194952 HWY 101., Quilcene • -__--- --------------------- ----—----__--------------------------- Call 385-9407 t0 sign up — www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org for more info. Health care officials to meet with ACLU, start reproductive task force By Allison Arthur of the Port Townsend Leader I March 18, 2015 *Jefferson Healthcare officials plan to meet with American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) officials soon and have started a reproductive services task force to look at whether the hospital should start offering abortions. The ACLU is challenging the public health care system's failure to offer abortions, and in a Feb. 18 letter, asked that Jefferson County's largest public health care system "change its policies and practices to fulfill its obligations" according to the 1991 Reproductive Privacy Act. Community members have joined the ACLU in questioning why the hospital does not offer abortions as part of its continuum of care for women. At a meeting on March 12 in Port Townsend, more than 30 people showed up to be informed and get organized, said Christel Hildebrandt. "We just want Jefferson Healthcare to follow Washington state law," Hildebrandt said, adding that she is concerned that the lack of local abortion services impacts poor women in Jefferson County who have to travel out of the county for such services. "We're just placing pressure that we care and we think there should be equivalent services at our hospital," Hildebrandt said. A letter-writing campaign has been organized to show hospital commissioners the issue is important to address, she said. Jane Whicher, who lives in Port Townsend and is associated with the ACLU, attended the strategy meeting, Hildebrandt said. Two hospital commissioners, Chuck Russell and Marie Dressler, also attended. RESPONSE OHospital spokesperson Kate Burke said on Friday, March 13, that the issue is "much larger than Jefferson County and is not likely to be solved in the next few weeks." CEO Mike Glenn is expected to give hospital commissioners an update when the board meets in a special session at 2 p.m., Tuesday, March 24 in Vic Dirksen Memorial Auditorium at Jefferson Healthcare. The board also meets at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, in the auditorium. Burke said two immediate steps include scheduling a meeting with the ACLU to better understand the issues and then initiating a reproductive-services task force, which, she said, would meet over the next several months "to review the continuum of reproductive services available" and "understand best practices for rural communities and recommend possible expansion of services." Burke clarified on Monday, March 16 that the task force would be led by Dr. Molly Parker and would be composed of health care providers associated with Jefferson Healthcare. "The task force will base its recommendations on community need and our ability to provide any new service in a safe, high-quality, compassionate and sustainable manner," Burke wrote. Burke also released a letter that CEO Mike Glenn had sent to the ACLU after the hospital board met in an executive session on March 4 to discuss what it perceives as possible litigation from the ACLU. In a letter to Leah Rutman, policy counsel with the Seattle chapter of the ACLU, Glenn acknowledged receiving the ACLU letter and said, "We are currently reviewing your concern, and our intention is to respond to your inquiry in a timely manner." Glenn did not spell out what a timely manner might mean and he did not mention meeting with the ACLU, s Burke indicated would happen later this month. The letter, dated March 1, was sent after the hospital oard's meeting on March 4, Burke said. COMMENTS FLOW Since the ACLU letter was released in late February, the abortion issue has prompted a number of comments. •"I feel like you are breaking the law and I feel that it needs to be addressed," said one woman at the March 4 board meeting. She suggested hospital officials could offer temporary privileges for a doctor who would be willing to provide the services. "There is no policy that precludes abortion services from being provided at Jefferson Healthcare," Glenn said. Commissioners also were told that requiring women to leave the community to get an abortion is limiting their access to health care. "We understand what you are saying," said commission president Jill Buhler at the March 4 meeting. The issue, she said, is that currently there are no providers at the hospital who want to provide that service. HIGH RATE Jefferson County had the second-highest abortion rate of any county in the state per 1,000 women in 2013. All of the 55 women from Jefferson County who had abortions that year left the county to find providers, according to information from the state Department of Health. Almost half of the 55 women from Jefferson County who opted to end their pregnancies — 24 — did so in King County. Three women went to Pierce County; one went to Snohomish County; and 27 women had abortions performed in other counties. COST AN ISSUE Joe Mattern, chief medical officer at Jefferson Healthcare, said earlier this month that he thinks the intention of the ACLU is to make sure that women have accessibility to high-quality reproductive care, including elective pregnancy terminations in or close to their communities. •"Smaller communities may or may not have the resources to provide termination services with the same level of quality and cost efficiency that a freestanding clinic like Planned Parenthood can provide. In fact, medical and surgical terminations are best provided in an office-based environment," Mattern said. Mattern said one of the reasons for offering the service in an out-patient setting is that it is less expensive than in a 24-hour acute care facility such as a hospital. i New owners to put $40M into PT mill .By Allison Arthur and Scott Wilson of the Port Townsend Leader I March 18, 2015 New owners to put$40M into PT mill Steve Klinger, CEO and board member of Crown Paper Group Inc., was in town last week to attend to business at Port Townsend Paper, acquired in February by the new company. Klinger said the investors are engaged in a long-term growth plan and expect to spend$40 million or more in the next two years on the Port Townsend mill and its box plants in Canada. New owners of Port Townsend Paper Corp. expect to spend $40 million or more in the next two years to strengthen and improve the 86-year-old mill, Jefferson County's largest private employer, and its finishing plants. Locals can expect a $20 million investment this year and approximately the same amount the following year, Steve Klinger, CEO and board member of Crown Paper Group Inc., told the Leader last week in an exclusive interview. The improvements are to include substantial environmental upgrades, a reduction in petroleum burning, a new fiber-processing technology that reduces the total chemical input, and safety improvements, he said. "We believe through capital investments and adopting best practices that we will make the mill more competitive in terms of its position on the cost curve of the entire industry," he said. "That's our overall objective, to make this mill more cost effective." "Two or three years, $40 million-plus is what I would say. That's the current plan. That's what we're looking at." Klinger, dressed casually and looking relaxed in the mill's executive office, covered a number of topics in the interview, stressing that the new owners are long-term investors looking to expand beyond this preliminary purchase with other acquisitions on the West Coast. The new ownership group, funded by the New York equity firm Lindsay Goldberg, will start by making substantial upgrades and investments here, he said. While the upgrades are focused on efficiency and meeting new federal environmental standards, the result is intended to be a lower carbon footprint for the mill, involvement in the community and keeping a good relationship with the union. MANY IMPROVEMENTS Most of the projects Klinger discussed already have permits and were planned by the previous ownership, GoldenTree Asset Management, when Crown purchased the mill (the sale was announced on Feb. 10) for an undisclosed sum. He noted that Jefferson County residents need to understand that while both the previous and current owners are New York investment houses, GoldenTree is focused on short-term turnarounds, while Lindsay Goldberg is focused on long- ", term growth. "You did not just go from one private equity firm to another," Klinger said. "You went from a distressed debt company to an investing company." Upcoming projects include a $10.5 million project to upgrade the mill's boiler no. 10 to Boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards to improve pollution control. A key piece of this upgrade is installing a powerful electrostatic precipitator to remove much more particulate matter from air .emissions. According to federal rules, the project is required to be up and running by January 2016. Another $10 million project in the works, and permitted, involves adding two new refiners to make the mill's paper machine no. 2 run faster and more efficiently. That upgrade should reduce the use of chemicals now used to adjust the mix of fibers toward different grades of kraft and containerboard output. Klinger also indicated that an environmental team is looking at the aerated stabilization basin - better known as simply "the pond" - to see if more improvements can be made. The pond is considered a source of odor. "We're looking at and evaluating places we need to spend money on from a maintenance perspective or cost reduction or speed or quality," Klinger said in his distinct Southern accent, adding that it's not yet clear what projects might be in the works for 2016. "Employees are still doing a lot of manual activities that can be stopped and made more efficient. We're evaluating numerous project levels to understand how we would invest." In terms of the number of employees at the mill, Klinger said, "The value proposition was not eliminating employees. That is not the purpose of why we bought the mill." The mill employs 300 here, and another 300 are employed at finishing plants in western Canada. GROWING BIGGER Growth is a central part of Crown's future plans, Klinger said. "We've got a lot of incoming calls from people who are interested in being part of a larger company, and so our group will be spending time evaluating other investments in the paper business," he said. "We'll evaluate businesses anywhere in the U.S., but right now we have a lot of interest in people on the West Coast. We like the West Coast market." A mill like Port Townsend Paper specializes in making kraft paper and containerboard, which is further processed into cardboard boxes and other packaging material, and the West Coast has huge demand for such packaging, he said - for everything from apples and produce to fish and snacks. "We expect we should be growing, but it will depend on opportunities, of course," he said. REDUCING OIL, CHEMICALS Klinger touched on the mill's carbon footprint, saying he expects the mill to evaluate different fuels. "We'll be evaluating different opportunities to look at different fuels. First, we'll be looking at more efficient use of fuels and then, down the line, we want to reduce the amount of oil that we are burning as a mill, and that reduces our carbon footprint as we're doing that," he said. Other energy sources are under study, he said. The refiner-improvement project should also reduce chemical additives. The project would increase the mill's ability to customize the mix of incoming wood fibers at the front end of the process, replacing some of the work that is currently done by chemicals to adjust the fiber mix later in the process, he said. ` Doing that should reduce the level and cost of chemicals and could also lead to savings in fiber. Together that would help mill economics, he said. SAFETY ISSUES Klinger volunteered that the mill's safety track record is not where the new investors want it to be. •"We really, really want to bring a different safety focus to this mill. We think everybody who comes to work here should go home the same way they came to work," he said. "We're going to spend a lot of time, money, effort and enthusiasm in trying to bring up this mill to normal effectiveness on safety performance." Port Townsend Paper's safety record has been below industry standards, he said. "We're concerned about the people who work here. We know that people who work in a safe workplace work in a more profitable workplace," he said. Klinger said he's visited employees and their families in hospitals when those employees have been hurt. "We're committed as an organization to doing much better than we've done." COMMUNITY Port Townsend Paper's relationship to the community is central, said Klinger. "We know after running many paper mills in the country that our relationship with the community is really important," Klinger said. He talked about the mill's community first, noting that the mill employs almost 300 people and that those people are related to as many as five people each. "So, there's roughly 1,500 people who are related to those people, and those relationships are important," he said. "'And the community at large, he said, is important. "It's also true that the paper mill has to exist in a community and it has to do its part in the community. I know this mill has supported many events. I've seen the list of these. We've got to continue to do that," he said. "We're also sensitive to the fact that the environmental local activists and community groups are interested in coexisting in a more harmonious way. We're evaluating all the ways we have impacts on the community in terms of environmental impacts. "We want to really understand what our options are and how we can put resources toward reducing our impact on the community, because the community depends on the jobs that are here, but it also depends on tourism and people coming into Port Townsend," Klinger said. "We want to have businesses continue to thrive, so we need to do our part to understand how we can invest time, money and resources to reduce our impact on the community." RUNNING THE SHOW Noting that he does not comment on personnel issues, Klinger said that it's too early to comment on whether a CEO would be brought in to replace Roger Hagan, who left the mill on Feb. 17. "Henry Smedley is operating the mill as general manager, and that's what I can tell you," Klinger said. "Henry is doing a nice job. He's committed to the mill. He knows a lot of the people we know and he's • leading the organization right now. When we have anything else to say, we'll say it." Smedley has been operations manager at the mill since 2010. Klinger also said that Port Townsend Paper hired maintenance workers who had been laid off at a mill in Cosmopolis, Washington. good technical people in the paper business is always a challenge. It doesn't matter where you ."Finding are," he said of new senior staff. "We need permanent employees rather than contract employees. GoldenTree couldn't fully hire, and we need people committed to the business, so we'll work on that over time." Klinger also said he's worked with unions all over the country. "We've always had really good contract relationships. We expect to have a good relationship with the mill employees. We have a contract we're going to live up to. We expect the employees to live by the contract also." The mill's current union contract with employees expires in 2017. "I've never sustained a strike at any location that I've been a manager of," said Klinger, who was a top manager at Unisource, Georgia-Pacific and Smurfit-Stone. "You did not justo from g one private equity firm to another. You went from a distressed debt company to an investing company." • • Port Hadlock eatery featured on TV show says it may close because of lease By Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News, March 19, 2015 4111Ik '44. 1 F i • {.� 1' Zoog's Caveman Cookin' Restaurant& Cave Lounge owner Bret"Zoog" Forsberg prepares for the lunch rush Wednesday. —Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News PORT HADLOCK—A restaurant featured on a reality show makeover in February could close next week because of its lease, its owners say. It was a shame "to have this happen after all we've gone through," said Holly Pritchett, who runs the Zoog's Caveman Cookin' Restaurant & Cave Lounge owned by her father, Bret "Zoog" Forsberg. "We are hoping we can do something at the last minute, but if we can't, we want to let people know what's happening so they can have some great food," she said. • Pritchett said the business at 141 Chimacum Road may have to close March 28 after losing its lease because the building reverted to a former owner. Pritchett said Trudy Boedticker said the business could stay where it is if the owners come up with $16,000 by March 28 to renew the lease. Boedticker could not be reached for comment. Pritchett said the potential closure has nothing to do with anything said on the "Restaurant Impossible" show that aired in February after the place was given a makeover in November. "We are not closing due to debt," the owners said on their Facebook page on Wednesday. The post was added after an initial post Tuesday afternoon announcing a possible closure date of March 25. Wednesday's post was more hopeful, indicating they had bought a few extra days. "We didn't mean to panic anyone or have anyone think 100 percent that we were closing," the post said. "We are working on a few different options to pay to start a new lease," Pritchett said. "We have hope. . . . We have until the 28th." +The business has some possible backers, and Pritchett said Wednesday she is optimistic it will be able to stay open. If the money cannot be secured, the restaurant could close and then reopen later, she said. In any case, the catering business, which uses a food cart, will continue and fulfill contracts that have been signed for the summer, she said. OThetaurant Port Hadlock barbecue restaurant opened in October 2012 with a 1,900-square-foot bar and on Chimacum Road after serving out of a food cart at several local fairs and events. Business was good at first but tapered off. Last year, Forsberg contacted the producers of"Restaurant Impossible," a show on the Food Network that selects distressed restaurants and provides a $10,000 makeover in a three-day period. The barbecue restaurant's closure began Nov. 14. It reopened Nov. 21 with new flooring, paint, wall coverings, refreshed tables, new chairs and repaired kitchen and bar equipment. Business spiked after the renovation last fall and the airing in February, Forsberg said. It has calmed down now, he said, and is about the same as this time last year. Both Forsberg and Pritchett say the show experience was mixed: It increased business but caused them to play a role. "It was all staged, but it is the price I paid for a million dollars' worth of free publicity," Forsberg said. "I don't know anyone who can drink a keg a week and still work, but I told my daughters that if you want to tell them I go upstairs after work and wore their mother's dresses, I didn't care." "People think that a reality show is real, and it's not," Pritchett said. SIt's all beefed up to make good TV. They had us saying things that weren't true." Jayson Elmore, an associate producer on the show, said he was unaware of the closure. He said the network does not comment about individual businesses once the show has aired. "Time is not on our side right now," Pritchett wrote on the restaurant's Facebook page. "If we are closing down, let's make this last week a week to remember and go out with a bang!! You never know, we've been saved before maybe we can pull something out of our hats?!" Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermantRpeninsuladailynews.com. Last modified: March 18 2015 7:27PM • Septics classes PORT TOWNSEND— • Jefferson County Public Health is offering free classes to homeowners about septic system oper- ation,maintenance and inspection. Homeowners who want to perform their own mon- itoring inspections need to complete two training courses:Septics 101 and 201. Both courses are offered hack-to-back at the following dates and times: ■ Thursday,March 26, 5 p.m.to 9 p.m.,Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road,Chima- cum ■ Friday,March 27, • 9 a.m.to 1 p.m.,Tri-Area Community Center IN Tuesday,April 7, 9 a.m.to 1 p.m.,Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101, Quilcene Registration is required,as space is lim- ited;contact 360-385-9407 to sign up. After completing the classes,homeowners may be able to complete required septic system monitoring inspections at a more reasonable cost. All training courses for the program are offered free of charge to attend- ees. • D � Neighbors use lawsuit to snuff marijuana business By Nicholas Johnson, Port Townsend Leader I March 25, 2015 1 F Ct} } 01 5 3i Chester home in Chimacum Tom Chester watches the sun set over his property's treeline while standing on the back deck of the house he shares with his wife and son in Chimacum. Chester said that since moving in a year ago, he has cleared 1 acre for a total of 5 acres of cleared land on his more than 40-acre property. Photo by Nicholas Johnson A Chimacum family is now looking for a new place to grow its marijuana business after neighbors of the family's rural property challenged its plans and the county's tacit support in a lawsuit. "It was a business decision," said Tom Chester of withdrawing a building permit on Feb. 19 that had been •issued, along with a storm-water permit, by the Jefferson County Department of Community Development (DCD) in October 2014. "We have high hopes that our new location will be in Jefferson County," he said. Those permits would have allowed Chester to build 700 feet of 8-foot-tall fencing to surround three- quarters of an acre, as well as to clear and grade a little less than an acre, or 2.5 percent, of his more than 40-acre rural forestland. In the same month the county issued those permits, Chester's neighbors — Karen Page and Marjorie Boyd, both of whom have been active in the county's ongoing effort to develop land-use rules for marijuana businesses — appealed through a land-use petition in Jefferson County Superior Court the county's decision to issue the permits. At the same time, Page and Boyd filed a second complaint concerning an easement access road that crosses their properties, connecting Chester's property with Egg and I Road. That complaint claimed Chester had caused damages in extending utilities up the road to his family's residence and that he intended to use the road improperly for commercial marijuana traffic rather than simply residential traffic. That complaint, which asks for declaratory judgment, has yet to be settled. "I think the permits were defensible," said David Alvarez, the county's chief civil deputy prosecuting attorney, who defended the county's issuance of the permits. Alvarez said the now-settled case establishes no precedent, would not stop Chester from continuing to pursue his business on the property and would not affect the county's marijuana-related policy efforts. "Still, the threat of litigation often deters applicants," he said. •So Chester and his family plan to remain living on the property while searching for another parcel for their planned growing and processing business called Ganjika Farms, state licenses for both of which have yet to be issued by the state Liquor Control Board. Page and Boyd declined to comment for this news story, according to their attorney, Craig Trueblood of K&L Gates, the 11th-largest law firm in the world. FAMILY BUSINESS IllirTom Chester moved from Bainbridge Island with his wife and young-adult son soon after purchasing his Chimacum property in February 2014, "We are just trying to establish a family business," said the 62-year-old Chester, who has worked as a software developer for the past 35 years. Besides business, Chester said he has a personal interest in getting in on the state's budding marijuana industry: His sister suffers from multiple sclerosis, while his son suffers from Crohn's disease, both of which experience medical benefits from marijuana use. Chester also said he's always been fascinated with horticulture. "I think indoor growing is obscene, so we wanted to grow outside and in greenhouses," he said, adding that he chose to move to Jefferson County for its rain shadow and amount of open space. "I'm a huge hobbyist of horticulture. I've wanted to own a nursery ever since I was a teenager." Soon after moving in, Chester had electricity extended along the easement road to his property, which drew complaints from Page. "We did not get the welcome wagon when we move in," said Chester, who got a call from the Sheriffs Office a day after utility crews dug a trench along the easement road to his house. "I was horrified to get that phone call." Once Page and Boyd learned of their new neighbor's plan to grow and process marijuana, they wrote letters to state and county officials in opposition. expected to be in business last summer," said Chester, who suspects those letters as well as the •"We eventual lawsuits held up the processing of his permit applications with the state and county. -No one will care about us doing this here,' we naively thought." Chester had long-range plans to construct a 2,000-square-foot greenhouse and a 2,000-square-foot pole building to accompany an existing 1,653-square-foot pole building and the family's 843-square-foot house. The cleared area would have been 619 feet from Page's property. Page and Boyd live on 20-acre agricultural parcels to the west and northwest, respectively, of Chester's property. SETTLED CASE The now-settled lawsuit challenged county officials' decision to issue permits to Chester so he could prepare his property for marijuana growing and processing. The lawsuit claimed the county violated its comprehensive plan and zoning use designations in tacitly allowing marijuana growing and processing, a nonagricultural use, on land open and available to agricultural uses. "Marijuana production and processing cannot be deemed traditional agriculture in any commonly understood sense," Page and Boyd's attorneys wrote in their opening brief, filed on Jan. 29. The lawsuit claimed the county failed to apply State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements, ignoring potential future impacts from such growing and processing. It also claimed the county should have reviewed marijuana as an "unnamed use," subjecting it to neighbor notification and comment, rather than treating it like any other form of agriculture. "Even if some aspects of a proposal are exempt from SEPA, the County cannot approve part of that proposal and ignore the proposal's other aspects," the petitioners' attorneys wrote in their opening brief. Alvarez called for the petition's dismissal, claiming that Page and Boyd did not have standing to challenge the permits. Visiting Clallam County Judge Christopher Melly chose not to dismiss the case, but also did not offer any explicit explanation as to whether Page and Boyd satisfied requirements for standing. AiikIn this case, Page and Boyd won, said Chester. "We folded like a cheap suit," he said. "The lawsuit against us and the county involved legal concepts that, as a layperson, seem ridiculous to me, but I'm no lawyer, so what do I know? If someone has unlimited resources and is hell-bent on harassing you, they can use the legal system to create all kinds of obstacles." OTHER CASE, CLAIMS The remaining case challenges Chester's proposed use of the easement access road that crosses his neighbors' properties. It claims that using the road for commercial traffic was never intended. It also claims that Chester caused damage to his neighbors' land while extending utilities to his property. "The one critical mistake we made was buying a property that depended on an easement," Chester said. "Other than that, we viewed this as a perfect property for this activity because it's so large. A neighbor would never know we existed because we're so deep in the woods." Chester called that lawsuit "a grab bag of grievances," saying his neighbors also claimed he and his family do not live on the property full-time. "That was one of the most offensive aspects —the claim that we don't live in our house," said Chester, who said he has been renting out the family's former house on Bainbridge Island. "All the development we've done has been in order to live here. It's so weird to be sued by someone claiming you don't live in your house. It's surreal. Our neighbors see us every day. They could wave at us if they wanted to, but they don't." Chester said he was amazed at how his neighbors' challenge focused on potential impacts from growing .and processing marijuana that had yet to materialize and, at times, seemed to make exaggerated claims about current impacts from the new neighbors. "You can't sue people over their intentions," he said. "They don't want us doing this here, so they created a fiction of all these things we did, in the present tense, because you can't sue someone for what they haven't done yet." COUNTY POLICY Not only was Chester and his proposed marijuana business unaffected by the county's moratorium, originally begun in August 2014, his business proposal was not the one that prompted the county's moratorium in the first place. The business that sparked the county's moratorium had proposed 40,000 square feet of buildings and greenhouses for growing and processing, 30 parking spaces and a septic system capable of serving 57 people, all on a parcel zoned residential. "The size of this proposed operation concerns us for its potential to be incompatible with other uses, especially any residential uses nearby," DCD director Carl Smith wrote in a July 22, 2014 email to Philip Morley, county administrator. "This is the largest proposed MJ operation in the County to date and represents new information that was not foreseen last fall when our initial approach to MJ was to use existing codes." The county now has until June 11 to develop land-use rules while keeping in place a renewed, yet more limited, moratorium on marijuana businesses. Page and Boyd were among the most outspoken county residents during the first, six-month moratorium about potential impacts such businesses might have on neighbors. In spite of that public concern, county officials are now aiming to treat marijuana like any other type of agriculture by making minimal adjustments to existing county rules that govern all agriculture. Port Hadlock eatery from "Restaurant Impossible" to close tonight, but future in Sequim being considered By Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News, March 26th, 2015 • 41 retia i-to i C Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News Bret"Zoog" Forsberg and his daughter, Holly Pritchett, are closing their Port Hadlock location and seeking space in Sequim to open a new barbecue restaurant. PORT HADLOCK—A restaurant that received a reality show makeover last fall is closing its doors because it lost its lease, its owners said. But owners are seeking to reopen elsewhere, perhaps in Sequim. Zoog's Caveman Cookin Restaurant & Cave Lounge will close tonight because it was not financially feasible to raise the money needed — $16,000 by this coming Saturday—for the lease renewal, according to Bret "Zoog" Forsberg, owner of the family business at 141 Chimacum Road. ."lf I had gotten a loan to cover the payment, my interest rate would have been so high it only would have kept us open another month," Forsberg said. "I wouldn't have been able to make the payments on the electric bill. They'd shut off the power, and we'd be back where we started." The restaurant will open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, and there will be no ceremony. "We were going to buy extra chicken wings and do a special but figured, 'What's the point?' said Holly Pritchett, Forsberg's daughter, who manages the restaurant. "So we decided to just do traditional barbecue, which is what people come here to get anyway." Pritchett said the family is investigating several possible locations in Sequim. "As much as we want to save the place, Port Hadlock is not a good place for us," Pritchett said. "We thought of trying to continue but decided to just call it what it is and find another location in a bigger town." Pritchett said the business has a built-in customer base in Sequim since many people travel from there to Port Hadlock to eat at the restaurant. As they search for a new location, the family will bring its barbecue cart to such North Olympic Peninsula 0 events as Sequim Lavender Weekend and the Jefferson County Fair. The Port Hadlock barbecue restaurant opened in October 2012 with a 1,900-square-foot bar and restaurant on Chimacum Road after serving out of a food cart at several local fairs and events. Business was good at first but tapered off. Last year, Forsberg contacted the producers of"Restaurant Impossible," a show on the Food Network Othat selects distressed restaurants and provides a $10,000 makeover in a three-day period. The work on the barbecue restaurant began Nov. 14. It reopened Nov. 21 with new flooring, paint, wall coverings, refreshed tables, new chairs and repaired kitchen and bar equipment. Pritchett had said March 18 that the business might have to close after losing its lease when the building reverted to a former owner, Trudy Boedticker. Pritchett said Boedticker told the family the business could stay where it is if they paid $16,000 by this Saturday to renew the lease. Forsberg said his appearance on the Food Network's "Restaurant Impossible" in February was ultimately worthwhile as it increased his visibility and allowed him to stay open for a few more months. He's not sure what will happen to the building but feels that the improved flooring, furniture and paint make it a better investment than when he moved in. The property is listed for $495,000 on the Century 21 website, http://tinyurl.com/PDN-BBQ. "We want to thank all our customers for their support over the last two years," Forsberg said. "And if people want to find out where we end up, they just need to check our Facebook page." OJefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant(a,peninsuladailynews.com. • Dr. Jeffrey Duchin and his disease detectives are on the case(s) His job as Seattle and King County's chief epidemiologist puts him I! on the front lines of every scary germ and virus to hit the news. By Susan Kelleher, Pacific NW magazine ine staff writer Originally published March 28. 2015 at 12;02 pm; Updated March 28, 2015 at 4:30 pm tip ittla t d oK` , Fx• v Maluata Nvuama winces as he gets a shot from nurse Wendy Dell at the Downtown Public Health Center in Seattle. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times) DR. JEFFREY DUCHIN had his marching orders: grab a respirator, hop a plane to New Mexico and help find the biological agent that was killing young members of the Navajo Nation. The public was in a panic, and members of the tribe were being shunned when Duchin, now Seattle and King County's chief epidemiologist, flew into the center of the 1993 epidemic as a disease detective for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Duchin studied the medical charts of the dead while two colleagues interviewed tribal elders and collected tissue samples from autopsies for analysis at the CDC lab. Within a week, the CDC identified the culprit: a new form of hantavirus transmitted via deer mouse droppings. By the time the investigation was over, Duchin, who had planned to be an emergency-room doctor, was charting a career path in the high-stakes world of public health. "It's one of those lessons where you think you know what you want in life, but you never can predict the best course of action," he says, recalling the investigation that earned him recognition for"exceptional performance" from the U.S. secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Today, the 57-year-old physician presides over a core staff of about 30 as chief of the section that handles communicable disease and immunization for Public Health — Seattle & King County. The job, which he has held since 1999, puts him on the front lines of every scary germ and virus to hit the news. His areas of expertise are a word salad of unpleasantness: bioterrorism, pandemic flu, microbial threats, disaster medicine, rabies, tuberculosis, HIV, hantavirus, Legionnaires' disease . . . Duchin (pronounced Dew-shin) also was recently named the health department's interim local health officer, a job that comes with the power to quarantine people, and the responsibility for developing plans sand strategies to protect the public from existing and emerging health threats. When he's not pondering nightmarish scenarios, he's overseeing day-to-day monitoring of infectious diseases, building networks among health-care providers, and educating a public that often lacks even a rudimentary understanding of basic biology. a v i Of n • Duchin, standing at left, King County's chief epidemiologist, finishes a lecture on public health at the University of Washington. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times) IT'S A FIRE HOSE OF A LIFE. On a recent day, Duchin's inbox of emails numbers 1,600. Towers of papers — reports and articles waiting to be read — cover his circular conference table. He's got meetings and a planning drill for potential Ebola cases, and, at lunchtime, a radio interview explaining why this year's flu vaccine missed the mark. With so much doom and gloom waiting, it's no wonder Duchin's modest office feels more dorm room than war room. Some of his more kitschy items: a Viking helmet on a Styrofoam head, a movie poster for "A Town Called Panic," a New Yorker cartoon showing a man swatting at flies, and a pack of dried fish Duchin calls "an outbreak in a package." "I picked it off the shelves so one less person gets sick," he says, only half-joking. II/In one framed photo, Duchin's colleagues are wearing masks of his face, complete with the reading glasses that sit atop his bald head like mouse ears. They sent it to him via email when he was at a meeting in Washington, D.C. "A sense of humor in this job is essential," he says. "It's a stressful environment." Duchin's preferred dress —jeans or khakis and a collared shirt—give him a laid-back look. But if there were an Olympics for overachievers, Duchin would be a serious contender. He teaches at the University of Washington as a professor of medicine in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as an adjunct professor at UW's School of Public Health and as a faculty member at the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. He also has served on five CDC committees or work groups, on a national forum on microbial threats, and as chairman of the public health committee at the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "Jeff really is one of the small, elite group of outstanding public-health officers," says Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who has known Duchin for about 20 years. "He thinks with his head in the clouds and operates with his feet planted firmly on the ground." Osterholm says Duchin's involvement with national and international committees gives him a unique perspective that has helped make Seattle and King County's public health department "one of the top four or five local health departments in the country." Swedish Medical Center's director of epidemiology, Will Shelton, calls Duchin "a treasure" who has built bstrong ties with the local medical community and developed ways of communicating quickly with health- are providers on the front lines. Communicating with the public is one of Duchin's most important responsibilities. Occasionally, some say, he gets it wrong. He came under fire recently for failing to notify patients or the public about an outbreak of deadly drug-resistant bacteria at a hospital. The outbreak was linked to a type of endoscope that harbors bacteria even after it's cleaned according to manufacturer instructions. ' 1 I i 4 tn- . ... u. m i i f r . , ,,` e it ,, Y g a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worker Mike Kinzer met with health-care officials early last December to determine his level of risk for Ebola. Kinzer had recently returned from the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. He had almost no risk o. exposure and wasnot infected. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times) Duchin defended his failure to disclose the outbreak locally, saying there was no ongoing threat to patients and that nothing could be done for patients who had become infected. The problem, he said, was potentially inadequate cleaning standards, and he was working to address that issue at the federal level. 11101t was a rare misstep for a man who publicly criticized the CDC for being too pat in its answers when facing public panic last year over the death of an Ebola patient in Dallas. "It's just as important to say what you don't know as what you know," he says. Talking about any outbreak always has the potential to stigmatize victims, so he treads carefully, he says. And even with the best communication, some people still are going to scare easily. "Dealing with panic is our bread and butter," he says. JULIA BYRD comes to work every day by 8 a.m. expecting possible disaster. "You never know what's going to happen," she says. "Every day is different." In 2013, the communicable disease section where she is a program manager handled more than 5,000 reports of communicable diseases, including 1,004 new cases of chronic hepatitis C, 507 cases of chronic hepatitis B, 126 cases of pertussis, 115 cases of suspected rabies exposure and more than 600 cases of food-borne illness, including 199 cases of salmonella. Ebola doesn't scare me, or scare me like some other things." Byrd has helped investigate every major outbreak since joining Public Health in 1989. When she started, record-keeping was done on paper, and it was difficult to spot connections. Today the department monitors the local prevalence of about 80 conditions, using databases that provide up-to-the-minute information. The 1990s were marked by a wave of food-poisoning cases, including E. coli linked to undercooked hamburgers at Jack in the Box. "I've never worked so hard in my life," she says of the 1993 disease investigation, which required hundreds of phone calls and in-depth interviews to find links between the victims. "It happened fast, and then was just furious. There were a couple of kids in critical condition, and they were just eating a *hamburger." That E. coli outbreak was followed by another, linked to unpasteurized apple juice made by Odwalla. "We went from one outbreak to another outbreak to another outbreak," she says. "And while that's going on, you've got to keep your regular surveillance going on." Duchin arrived at the department in 1999 just as bioterrorism was entering the public consciousness. The riots that accompanied the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle that year revealed the need for better responses and more resources. Byrd says the department rented 15 laptop computers to monitor incoming patients at area emergency rooms for exposure to biological agents. J5;14111„ :r Irrr7, A 'OWN CAL. PANIV, „ ti pts As the man most responsible for King County's response to contagious illness, it's Jeffrey Duchin's job to not panic in the face of potential pandemic. Duchin is chief of the communicable disease and immunization section for Seattle and King County's public Seattle and King County's public health department, and its interim health officer. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times) After WTO came anthrax and SARS, concerns about smallpox, and biological weapons. Next was the H1 N1 or "swine flu" outbreak of 2009, an epidemic that peaked before the vaccine was available for the public. Now, there's Ebola and measles at Disneyland. "We are so much better about getting on stuff," Byrd says. "Ebola doesn't scare me, or scare me like some other things." The team's been through the drill before, she says, and everyone knows their roles. Shortly after Duchin arrived, he started an "emergency outbreak response group" to enable hospitals to work together during severe biological emergencies. That group evolved into the Northwest Healthcare Response Network. The day-to-day work is "very labor intensive," Duchin says. "It's ongoing, based on building human relations. It's not something youcan do one time and say, 'Got it!' They have to be constantly nurtured, these relationships, and people turn over, and new people come in, and old people leave, and things change." `Byrd attends daily meetings at 2:30 p.m. in which Public Health epidemiologists and nurse disease investigators review current cases and compare notes. "This is where the magic happens," Byrd says, as she settles into a seat around a conference table where the staff shares details and looks for trends. On this day, cases include monitoring 31 travelers for Ebola, and tracking people with measles, influenza, and a man who is refusing preventive treatment for rabies after a bat flew into his face. Duchin is not happy about the refusal and has ordered a strongly worded letter urging the man to get recommended treatment. The team also is wrapping up a salmonella investigation that sickened nearly 40 people in six counties. The investigation is all but complete, but it's clear there's still work to do. IN JUNE, Duchin's team began receiving reports of salmonella, a bacteria that can spread through raw or partially cooked food. It causes bloody diarrhea and sometimes more serious illnesses. The team interviewed health-care providers, patients and their families, and quickly deduced it was being spread through food. But they couldn't determine how the cases were linked. The team brought in Eyob Mazengia, a researcher and supervisor in the public health section that oversees food safety. fid, 1 tf"+" •91111h• i giro, IDA salmonella culture is kept at the state lab in Shoreline. The lab is the front line for investigations into contagious infection. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times) Mazengia recognized the victims were of Ethiopian origin, so he wrote a lengthy questionnaire that addressed specific Ethiopian cultural practices, including sharing food and eating raw or undercooked beef either sliced or ground and mixed with spices in a widely consumed dish called kitfo. The beef is so popular that when it's delivered fresh to local markets on Thursdays and Saturdays, customers queue up to buy it, and bring it home or sit down on site to share it with friends. Through questionnaires, interviews and gumshoe detective work, the investigators learned that cows were being purchased at a livestock auction in Chehalis and taken to off-the-grid slaughterhouses. The meat was then transported in large plastic tubs via cars and trucks to restaurants and delis in King County and elsewhere. The purchase and slaughter methods were similar to those practiced in Ethiopia, where backyard slaughter is common and meat-handling practices vary widely. The culprit in the outbreak, however, proved to be the plastic tubs used for transport. They weren't sanitized properly, so contamination was a recurring problem. The team went into high gear, recognizing people were at risk for more serious food-borne illnesses such as E. coli unless handling practices changed. Mazengia organized a meeting where owners of Ethiopian food establishments could meet with representatives of state and federal agricultural departments, and state and local health departments, to review approved slaughtering activities and safe food-handling practices. 1111He also asked Assaye Abunie, director of the Multimedia Resources and Training Institute in Seattle, to host a panel discussion on safe food-handling practices to air with Amharic subtitles on Seattle Community Media's Ethio Youth Media TV channel. The meeting and the television program got people in Seattle's Ethiopian community talking. As word spread, one restaurant linked to the outbreak went out of business, even as its owner denied there was a problem, Abunie says. •Abunie, who trains journalists from ethnic communities, is working on a documentary about the salmonella outbreak that will air here on Ethio TV. He says people are aware of the risk from raw beef and have curbed their consumption. Still, undercooked beef remains on the menu at Ethiopian restaurants, and people still buy fresh meat to take home and eat raw with a side of habanero peppers or ground as kitfo. ci,,, , -q :i ,,,,,, ., -- ,,,, , , „ ., ,,,:,,„, .,. I —4',,,, ,,,, .,,,, . ,0,.., „,,,„{„s - , .;,,,k Seven-year-old Layth Hazim of Lacey gets a flu shot at Seattle Children's hospital. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times) THE IMPACT to businesses and people who become ill is always a concern, Duchin says, and some people will panic no matter what. elf you're investigating an outbreak in a certain community, if a lot of attention is focused on that community publicly, they're at risk for being discriminated against and having negative consequences,” he says. "It interferes with your ability to do an outbreak investigation. They don't want to cooperate with you because they feel like the more scrutiny is brought . . . the more hardship they're going to have." The work goes on with growing challenges. Duchin worries about scientific illiteracy that keeps people from getting vaccinations or taking simple steps — such as washing their hands—to keep themselves and others safe. And he worries about social and environmental ills, things like growing income disparities that make it more likely people will delay medical care in the early stages of disease, setting up possible outbreaks with more serious illnesses. His voice drops and his brow knits as he speaks about global warming. It's one more nightmare for him to ponder and plan for. He points to the New Yorker cartoon on his wall, the one with the man swatting at flies. "That's me," he says. Susan Kelleher is a Pacific NW magazine staff writer. Reach her at skellehera©seattletimes.corn or 206-464-2508. On Twitter a©SusanKelleher. Dean Rutz is a Seattle Times staff photographer. • Public health officer: Cost of Clallam measles outbreak could reach $200,000 •By Charlie Berman, Peninsula Daily News, March 27th, 2015 PORT TOWNSEND —The cost of controlling a measles outbreak in Clallam County hasn't been tallied yet but could be as high as $200,000, Jefferson County's public health officer said. In the measles outbreak on the North Olympic Peninsula, five cases —three adults and two juveniles — were diagnosed in Clallam County beginning Feb. 1. No cases have been confirmed in Jefferson County. "Controlling an outbreak of measles is extraordinarily expensive, but without those efforts, the cost would have been much higher and we would have had many more than five cases," Dr. Tom Locke, formerly also the public health officer for Clallam County, told Jefferson Healthcare hospital commissioners Wednesday. Clallam officials have said the window of possible infection —the time during which public health officials could expect more cases — is open until April 19. Outbreaks of contagious diseases such as measles are preventable when a sufficient percentage of the population is immunized against them, Locke said. Immunity rates above 90 percent are considered safeguards against outbreaks, Iva Burks, Clallam County Health and Human Services director, has said. AILAs few as 56 percent of schoolchildren in Port Townsend schools and 89 percent of children in Port Angeles schools have complete immunity against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), hepatitis B and varicella (chicken pox), according to the Department of Health. "We need to correct the misconception that the vaccines are risky and the diseases we are trying to prevent are not," Locke said Wednesday. Locke said parents who choose not to vaccinate their children are endangering the general public. "We are one of only 19 states that allow personal exemptions, and we should change this," he said. "When an unvaccinated child is in school, there is an increased personal risk to other students and the community." The notion that parents should not vaccinate their children for moral or political reasons is misguided and dangerous, Locke said. "We have a high rate of philosophical exemptions in Jefferson County, people who believe the risk of vaccinations outweigh the benefits," he said. "A significant number of parents are ignoring the requirement to vaccinate their kids, and the schools aren't enforcing that. 4111° "I think the time has come to end that practice." A bill that would have removed personal or philosophical opposition to vaccines as an authorized exemption from childhood school immunizations died in the state House earlier this month. When a child of any age enters a public or private school, the parent or guardian is required to show roof of successful vaccination, an exemption signed by a health care provider or a statement that vaccination is planned. "If you do not meet one of these criteri,a you should not be allowed to enter school," Locke said. According to statistics gathered by the state Department of Health's immunization program for the 2013- 14 school year, Jefferson County ranks 30th in the state's 39 counties in its rate of complete immunizations, with a 48 percent compliance. The analysis of the numbers was prepared by Siri Kushner, an epidemiologist for the Kitsap Public Health District, who has not compiled comparable data for Clallam County, Locke said. In Jefferson County, vaccinations can be obtained from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays for walk-ins at the county Public Health Clinic, 615 Sheridan St. and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays by appointment at Jefferson Healthcare hospital's primary care clinic, 915 Sheridan St.; call 360- 379-8031. Clallam County offers immunizations at 111 E. Third St., Port Angeles, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Wednesday. Call 360-417-2274 for more information. Locke also talked Wednesday about the issue of abortion services in Jefferson County. .No such services are provided in the county now. Those seeking abortions are referred elsewhere. The American Civil Liberties Union has told hospital officials that it interprets the law to mean that a hospital that provides maternity services also must offer abortion. Jefferson Healthcare has assembled a task force to study reproductive services and make a recommendation to hospital officials. Officials should find out what services are wanted and where people want to get them, Locke said. "Not everyone who seeks to have an abortion wants to have it locally," he said. "A lot of our focus in health care these days is the regionalization of services," Locke said. "We are never going to have every service in Jefferson County. "We are never going to have a burn unit or a neurosurgeon or a cardio-cath lab. "It doesn't make sense to provide those services on this scale." Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant(cr�peninsuladailinews,com. • Hospital's expo Saturday in Port Townsend gathers resources for those looking to stay healthy and fit By Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News, March 27th, 2015 • -- :.;;; iHwor a � � � � SFCaih6 Jefferson Healthcare chef Arran Stark and marketing director Kate Burke go over the last-minute details for Saturday's Health, Wellness and Fitness Expo. —Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News PORT TOWNSEND—Jefferson Healthcare hospital's Health, Wellness and Fitness Expo this weekend will offer information and activities to help participants maintain their health. "We want to see people have a commitment to better health and get on a healthier regimen," said Kate Burke, the hospital's marketing director, who is organizing the event. "To eat better, walk every day or quit smoking—whatever small changes they can make that leads up to results." The hospital will host a free expo with information and health screenings from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the •Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., Port Townsend. Additional fitness opportunities are offered today at Mountain View Pool, Evergreen Fitness, Port Townsend Athletic Club and Madrona MindBody. The expo has a participatory element: Those who complete three activities—two health screenings and one wellness assessment—will get a free lunch prepared by hospital chef Arran Stark. "One thing I've discovered about living in Port Townsend is that if you want people to come out, you need to provide food and entertainment," said Stark, who in four years has pushed the hospital menu toward local and organic foods. "This will be a great catalyst to get people learning about better health," said Stark. Live music performances are part of the menu for lunch, which will begin at 12:30 p.m. To give participants a head start in completing the free lunch requirements, some activities will take place today. Participants can pick up at any participating location a flier that has a form with a space for validation of the activities, including a space for their health goal. The hospital will follow up with participants to see if they met their goals, Burke said. Those interested in classes should contact each individual location for a class schedule, or they can just show up, she said. This includes swimming at the Mountain View Pool, 1919 Blaine Sr.; classes at Madrona MindBody Institute, Building 310 at Fort Worden; Evergreen Fitness, 22 Tahlequah Road; and the Port Townsend Athletic Club, 229 Monroe St. A 10 a.m. bike ride sponsored by the Peninsula Trails Coalition will begin at the Cape George Trailhead of the Larry Scott Trail today. A bike ride at the same time and place takes place Saturday. *Saturday events at the maritime center are: • 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. — Fun run/walk starting at the maritime center and traveling to Compass Rose. • 9:30 a.m. — Dance and movement presented by Madrona MindBody. • 10 a.m. —"Tai Chi for Better Balance" presented by Jefferson Healthcare. • 10:30 a.m. —"Kung Fu for Kids" presented by Jefferson County YMCA. • 11 a.m. —CX Works presented by Evergreen Fitness. • 11:30 a.m. —"Zumba for Everyone" presented by Zumba Fitness; "Kids' Fitness" presented by the Jefferson County YMCA; and a healthy cooking class by Gabriel Schuenenmann of Alder Wood Bistro of Sequim. Those who sign up for May's Rhody Run will get all three fitness stamps and be eligible to enter a raffle for a gift certificate to Soak on the Sound. Wellness assessments will include balance screening and assessments of foot health, hand strength and nutrition. Health screenings will include blood pressure checks, glucose screening, pre-diabetes risk assessments, body mass index and cancer screenings. Outdoor demonstrations of kayaking, paddleboarding, rowing and biking fitness are planned from 9 a.m. to noon outside the maritime center. • Stark has his own exercise regimen and will lead the paddleboarding demonstration at 10:30 a.m. but focus most on better eating practices. "Food is a great tool that summons people," he said. "You give people good food, and it always wins them over." Burke said the event is designed to give people all the information they need to get on a healthy path in a manageable way. She suggest setting reasonable goals. "If you overload yourself with a lot of goals, you will fail," she said. "We want to get people to start small, doing something they can work into their life." Participants, she hopes, will find the answers to the questions people have about staying healthy. "We will get people to try things for the first time and go back and do them again. If people get excited walking away from this, that would be great," Burke said. For more information, see http://tinyurl.com/PDN-health. Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com. 4111 Studies: Health ranking finds Jefferson County healthier than Clallam County By James Casey, Peninsula Daily News, March 27th, 2015 .PRINCETON, N.J. — How healthy is life on the North Olympic Peninsula? That depends on where you live, whom you ask and how well you can stand statistics. Two new county-by-county studies of health across the nation answer the question in different ways. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of New Jersey, working with the University of Wisconsin, says Jefferson County is the 15th healthiest among Washington state's 39 counties and that Clallam County ranks 27th. Jefferson slipped from its 11th place in 2014, while Clallam climbed from a 30th-place ranking last year. The foundation released the rankings Wednesday. Meanwhile, a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compares each county more broadly with its population peers across the United States. The findings were made public this month. In Jefferson County, according to the CDC, you've a better-than-average life expectancy and are less likely to die from obesity, Alzheimer's disease and venereal diseases. However, you stand a worse chance with cancer. mClallam County residents fare better than average at chronic kidney disease and coronary heart disease ortality and for deaths from venereal disease and older adult depression. But in Clallam, you're likelier than average to die from Alzheimer's, cancer, stroke or an "unintentional injury" that might include a motor vehicle wreck, especially one involving alcohol, CDC statistics say. In the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation rankings, Clallam falls into the lowest third and Jefferson ranks in the top third of health outcomes and health factors among the 39 counties. Some key findings: • Residents of Clallam County are likelier than their in-state peers to smoke but stand a higher risk of death from drunken driving. • Jefferson County residents are about average for smoking and overeating but are less likely to suffer alcohol-impaired driving deaths. • Premature deaths in Clallam County totaled 7,191, substantially higher than the rest of Washington state and counties across the country. • Jefferson County's per capita rate of premature death was about average at 5,466, but it scored more poor physical and mental health days per capita. What does it mean?According to Iva Burks, director of Clallam County Health and Human Services, it's not that her county is especially unhealthy; it's that more people with poor health live here. *Age is a big factor, she said, as was noted once at an Olympic Medical Center meeting by a man who called Sequim "God's waiting room." Obesity, smoking and substance abuse also play roles, Burks said. The 2015 County Health Rankings from the Johnson Foundation measured factors that ranged from low *birth weight to premature death, with alcoholism, diabetes, obesity, smoking and sexually transmitted diseases —among others — along the way. For a look at counties on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington state and across the nation according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, visit www.countyhealthrankings.orq. For the CDC comparisons, visit wwwn.cdc.gov/CommunityHealth. If you don't mind digging for data, you can find more clues to healthiness in documents prepared for each county by Clallam County Health and Human Services, Jefferson Healthcare and Jefferson County Public Health. Each county has released lengthy reports about health behaviors, lifestyle habits, diseases and causes of death, all linked to age, gender, education and economic well-being. You can learn, for instance, that Jefferson County's per capita consumption of fruits and vegetables rides slightly above the state average. Clallam County, however, boasts above-average screening for colorectal cancer. "The Clallam County's Community Health Assessment," published in 2012, is available at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-clallampublichealth. Jefferson County's similarly titled study was published last year. You can view it at http:Htinvurl.com/PDN-jeffcopublichealth. "'But back to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study: It draws some decidedly unsurprising conclusions — namely, that people who stay in school longer and make more money often enjoy better health. Here are the foundation's health-outcome raw rankings by county (a separate but similar list compares health factors): In first place is Whitman, followed by San Juan, Kittitas, Whatcom, King, Island, Snohomish, Thurston, Douglas, Walla Walla, Benton, Columbia and Chelan. Then, Clark, Jefferson, Skagit, Kitsap, Lincoln, Franklin, Adams, Pierce, Spokane, Grant, Skamania, Klickitat and Lewis. The list is finished by Clallam, Asotin, Garfield, Yakima, Stevens, Cowlitz, Mason, Ferry, Pend Oreille, Grays Harbor, Okanogan, Pacific and Wahkiakum. If you want to find the "unhealthiest" regions in Washington, a map shows that the state's southwest and northeast corners, plus Yakima County, have the worst health outcomes. The same regions show up similarly on a map of health factors. If there's a "healthiest" region, it comprises the counties of King, San Juan, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom, plus Whitman and Walla Walla. 4I/Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com. E ms, c 1 z ``,r Y r • L.":':r:•';"v":iEi;14..':-- „ 1 ° 't.'1.s _ sa; ; , Y � ^ 'i ��. � `- ;-•.. • _ f.`, r ` ►- - • � • 3 'r J 3 ,f '. l s • , est •.d: x, _k, - ,sem gz Ry,r xipk a3 r ,s The Jefferson County Board of Health has announced its 2015 Public Health Heroes, Jumping Mouse Children's Center and Jefferson County Nurse-Family Partnership. Giving and receiving the awards are, from left, Mary Jo Mackenzie, Leah Ceehorn, Yuko Umeda and Carol Hardy of Nurse-Family Partnership; Jon Nowak and Dott Kelly of Jumping Mouse; Shelia Westerman of the Board of Health; and Kristin Becker and Kitty Knapp of Jumping Mouse. Heroes• Health helpy s outh . 1'r N iNsr i.:\ 1).\11.1 NI,\\' The health weektheme care of the youngest mew- 1)01{T 1'OWNSEND -- is -Healthiest Nation 2030: hers of this community and In celebration of National Let's Make America the have been for quite some Public Health Week (April Healthiest Nation in One time," said Sheila We .s man, chair of the Jefferson 6-121, the Jefferson County ,This year's theme Board of ii iii 1"''''' focuses on transforming the County Board of Health. announced its 2015. Public \vav ow country approaches "I can t tell you how Health Heroes. health. with greater atten happy I am to give this They are Jumping tion placed on prevention award because the more Mouse Chilclren's Center and wellness. kids we can take care of,the and Jefferson County "These special, special better off we will be in the Nurse-Family Partnership. people are helping us take future." • A / /00/V Port Angeles police first law enforcement agency on Peninsula to be armed with drug overdose antidote By Rob 011ikainen, Peninsula Daily News, March 30th, 2015 • PORT ANGELES — Seconds matter in a heroin overdose. The Port Angeles Police Department is now equipped with an antidote that could save a life when an opioid user overdoses and stops breathing. The Port Angeles Police Department partment is the only law enforcement agency on the North Olympic Peninsula that has access to naloxone, Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said. A Virginia pharmaceutical company provided Port Angeles police with 64 naloxone auto injectors as part of a scholarship grant. Naloxone temporarily blocks the effects of opioid drugs like heroin or prescription medication such as Oxycodone. It helps a person who has overdosed breathe easier. Kaleo, the Richmond, Va., company, supplied the 0.4-milligram doses of Evzio-brand naloxone after Port Angeles police officer Sky Sexton applied for the grant. "The rising number of overdose deaths from opioid-based prescription drugs and heroin is a major concern for our community," said Terry Gallagher, chief of the Port Angeles Police Department. "This new product delivers a potentially life-saving dose of naloxone via a simple to use auto-injector system that is easy to carry and administer to someone experiencing an opioid overdose," he added. Hospitals and fire department paramedics regularly administer naloxone intravenously. Many law enforcement agencies, however, do not have access to the life-saving medication. Law enforcement officers are often the first to arrive to a medical call. Dr. Tom Locke, Jefferson County public health officer who formerly served in the capacity for Clallam County, advocates law enforcement access to naloxone injectors and public access to naloxone nasal sprays. "It's a life-saving strategy for heroin overdose," Locke said. "When a person has an overdose on heroin, you have literally minutes to react to that to resuscitate their breathing." Since naloxone has virtually no side effects, it can safely be used on a person who is unconscious but has not taken drugs, Locke said. Nurse Julia Keegan and Dr. Art Tordini, who provide health care to Clallam County jail inmates, helped train nine police officers to use the naloxone injectors March 19. Another 10 officers were trained on Wednesday, and the rest of the force will be trained and equipped with two naloxone auto injectors in the coming weeks, police said. The pre-filled, single-use Evzio injectors are administered into a muscle. •"It reverses all the effects of narcotics pretty much immediately," Tordini said. Tordini said there is a national trend to provide naloxone to law enforcement. "It's coast to coast," Keegan said. •"lt's finally reaching us out here on the Peninsula." Naloxone isn't just for illicit drug users. The medication also can help, for instance, children who ingest drug-infused suckers and adults who take methadone for pain, Keegan said. According to state Department of Health statistics, Clallam County had 13 opiate-related deaths in 2013 while Jefferson County had one. Clallam County had the highest per capita opiate-related death rate in the state that year, health officials said. While the number of deaths related to prescription opioids —which are produced synthetically while opiates are from natural sources — has dropped in recent years, Locke said there has been an equal rise in the number of deaths related to heroin. "First responders and police officers are most likely to be on scene first," Locke said. The Port Angeles Police Department has four certified emergency medical technicians on staff and 12 automatic defibrillators at its disposal. Police respond to a "couple overdose calls a week in some fashion," Smith said. Jail medical staff treat inmates with opioid withdrawal "every single day," Keegan said. eSmith said he was introduced to the Kaleo grant at a national law enforcement conference. He encouraged Sexton, the agency's medical officer, to apply. Smith credited Sexton for securing the medication for the department. Keegan and Tordini were instrumental in training officers how to it, Smith said. "The deployment of naloxone is consistent with our duty to the community and reflects our commitment to recognize best practices in the law enforcement field," Gallagher said in a news release. "When lives are on the line, seconds matter." Reporter Rob 011ikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com. Port Townsend Farmers Market to open Saturday with visit from state official By Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News, March 31st, 2015 *:.:41(44 Pc M " §yeti Red Dog Farm owner Karyn Williams prepares tulips to be sold at Saturday's opening day of the Port Townsend Farmer's Market. — Photo by Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News PORT TOWNSEND — In years past, the high point of the opening of the Port Townsend Farmers Market has been the running of the goats, but this year the animals will share the spotlight. The market opens for its 23rd season at 9 a.m. Saturday with a visit from state Secretary of Health John Wiesman, who will cut the ribbon that signals the availability of fresh produce, meat and crafts on a weekly basis. The ribbon cutting will be followed by the market's annual goat parade, which features flower-festooned fiddlers, mother and baby goats, and kids strolling around the market. More than 60 vendors are expected to participate. The market, which operates on Taylor Street between Lawrence and Clay streets from April to December, contributes not only to local nutritional health, it enhances the social and economic aspects of the region, according to participants. "It's a really fun community event and a great place to hang out," said Red Dog Farm owner Karyn Williams, who has participated for 10 years. "I get to see all of the other farmers and connect with my customers. It's a fun scene to be part of every week." Williams said her sales at the market account for about 30 percent of her annual revenue. "It's like payday," she said. "It's how I buy my seeds and pay my employees." The first day is always special to Williams because "it's like starting school again. It's a bit of a reunion and a party." Will O'Donnell, the market's director, said that Wiesman is making the trip to Port Townsend to help celebrate the market's opening while promoting his Healthiest Next Generation initiative. The goal of the initiative is to help children maintain a healthy weight, enjoy active lives and eat well by omaking changes in early learning settings, schools and communities. Port Townsend already has a head start in meeting a number of the initiative's goals, O'Donnell said. "In the past few years, we've made a lot of progress getting good food into the hospital and the schools," O'Donnell said. •"The market is at the center of this effort." O'Donnell said that 2014 was the market's best year, pulling in more than $1 million in sales at the Saturday market alone. There are no projections for 2015, with the goal "to make local food more accessible to more locals, regardless of income level," he said. Visitors to the Port Townsend Farmers Market will find lots of seasonal produce: from greens of all shapes and sizes to leeks, potatoes and other produce. It also features a variety of food vendors along with fresh local coffee. The mild winter and warm spring has led to an early bumper crop of tulips, which will be available by the bucketload on opening day. Eggs will also be in abundance, and their spring yolks are typically a beautiful orange, O'Donnell said. The market also features local beef, pork, chicken, lamb and salmon direct from the producer or fisherman. O'Donnell predicts a good business for the market this year but with a possible drawback late in the season. •'The Olympic Mountains didn't get any snow this year, so this could affect our water supply," he said. "This could affect the planting season, and there could be fewer crops in the fall." The Saturday market is one of three managed by Jefferson County Farmers Markets. The Chimacum Farmers Market operates Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. between June and October. The market is located at the Chimacum Corner Farmstand, across from the Chevron where state Highway 19 meets Chimacum and Center roads. • Also, the Wednesday afternoon market operates on Polk Street between Lawrence and Clay streets in Port Townsend from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. beginning in July. For more information, visit www.jeffersoncountyfarmersmarket.orq. Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermantpeninsuladailynews.com. • State health secretary to visit PT Farmers Market on opening day Alk Port Townsend Leader, Posted: Wednesday, April 1, 2015 3:30 am i MP , , , t4A.;: 110,, 1*A%.,P'' tk. r y„,„,,,,,,,,‘ ,-,. �'4:''.-: 4 14".., a9 {..' S �' Tulip harvest Gina Carlucci(left)picks tulips with Red Dog Farm owner Karyn Williams(center)and Alice Lee. Williams plants 40 varieties of tulips and 16,000 bulbs. The flowers are available at her stand in Chimacum and she'll also have them at her booth Saturday,April 4 at the opening of the Port Townsend Farmers Market. Photo by Allison Arthur Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman is on hand Saturday, April 4, for the grand opening of the Port Townsend Farmers Market. The market begins its 23rd season with a goat parade, music and lots of new products and vendors. dik"We're excited for the secretary of health to come because we're making such progress to ensure that fresh and healthy food is available to everybody. So we're happy to have him come out and celebrate with us," said Will O'Donnell, market manager. "In fact it will be the market's biggest opening day ever with over 60 vendors," O'Donnell added. The market opens at 9 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. It encompasses a block in Uptown on Tyler Street between Lawrence and Clay streets. Spring came early thisyear, and our Jefferson County farms have full stands of fresh products: multicolored tulips by the bucketload; greens of every shade and shape fill baskets in all the farmer's booths; and cartons of orange-yolked fresh spring eggs — both chicken and duck — are available by the dozens of dozens. Harmony's Way Farm of Chimacum brings mama and kid goats to walk through the market, the very same goats that produce the milk for their award-winning soaps. Musicians Kristin and Otto Smith and friends follow with a mix of folk melodies on fiddle, accordion, guitar and banjo. The parade moves slowly but doesn't last long, so O'Donnell urges people to come out right at 9 a.m. if they want to join in. Early is always a good time to come to market since lots of products sell out by closing time on busy days. Warty morning shoppers are treated with hot beverages from Gypsy Coffeehouse and PT Coffee Company, pastries from Pane d'Amore and Dalla Notte, and bagels — either with cream cheese or eggs and pecan sausage — from Bob's Bagels. Every year there are new things to eat at the market. This season the market welcomes authentic Spanish paella from recent Spanish transplant Alejando de Basilio, and local Megan Trenary brings her new food business, W La Femme Boucherie. She's making handmade sausages, house-cured bacon, and lots more. Adam and Rebecca of Woodland Treasures sell mushrooms and mushroom products that they either grow, forage or both. In addition to the return of longtime farms Red Dog, Midori, Finnriver, Nash's, Colinwood, Dharma Ridge, Spring Rain, Serendipity, Willow Wind and Short's Beef, this year the market welcomes back last year's new farm, River Run, of Sequim, and the brand new Onatrue Farm off Jacob Miller Road in Port Townsend. Max Lindert and family have all sorts of things planted on their south-facing sunny acreage, from greenhouse-grown baby ginger to tea plants. He'll mainly be bringing starts and greens to early markets though, including boxes of microgreens and bags of cut greens. Free tastes and samples are always available at the market from local cideries and cheese makers. Free samples are less likely from the many arts-and-crafts vendors, though new leather shoemaker Mike Ferguson of Sole's Journey provides free fittings, and Tim Black offers free hand treatments for rough palms. The Port Townsend Farmers Market runs every Saturday through December, including, this year, during Rhody Fest. For more information visit jcfmarkets.org. S S Jefferson Healthcare nurses to attend SANE training •By Allison Arthur, Port Townsend Leader I Posted: April 1, 2015 3:30 am Free help for rape victims Dove House Advocacy Services offers confidential crisis intervention and advocacy services to survivors of domestic violence,sexual assault and general crime. The 24-hour crisis line is 385-5291. For general information,call 385-5292.Hours are 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m.,Monday through Friday.The office is at 1045 10th St.,next door to Jefferson Healthcare hospital. Sexual assaults in Jefferson County,2014 ADULT VICTIMS Second degree 1 ID Third degree 1 (Legal charge based on level of force) CHILD VICTIMS First degree 6 Second degree 3 Third degree 3 (Legal charge based on age difference between victim and perpetrator) Sexual assault victims in Jefferson County have been going to Harrison Medical Center in Kitsap County to have a specially trained nurse examine them, because there are no nurses at Jefferson Healthcare currently qualified to do the exams. That is expected to change this month when several Jefferson Healthcare nurses attend a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) core training program being offered April 20-22 in Port Townsend by the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress. Beulah Kingsolver, executive director of Dove House Advocacy Services in Port Townsend, raised the tissue of the lack of such nurses locally during a meeting of newly elected officials in January. Both prosecuting attorney Michael Haas and county administrator Philip Morley contacted Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn shortly thereafter and suggested the hospital get involved. Glenn agreed. "I've also reached out to the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs to learn more about how rural hospitals provide this specialized service for their communities," Glenn said. "While one or two SANE-trained nurses does not a program make, it seems like a reasonable place to •start," Glenn wrote in an email. The SANE training issue rose before the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) pressed the public health care system to offer abortion services, something the health care system also is looking into. CONVENIENCE From Kingsolver's perspective, the issue is convenience in a time of crisis. "We send two staff when we transport," to Bremerton, Kingsolver said, "one to drive and the other to help the victim in trauma." In a case within the past year, Kingsolver said two people from Dove House were gone for 12 hours helping one victim. "And how long is that for the victim? They won't call in their SANErs until we get there," she said of the nurses at Harrison. "We get there and we wait. They do a great job," she added. Although Kingsolver has money to help advocate for victims, she said rapes and assaults are typically not reported during business days or business hours. Kingsolver is pleased that Jefferson Healthcare is willing to send nurses to the class later this month. SANE, RAPE KIT So is Jefferson County Sheriff's Detective Barb Garrett, who has been the lead investigator of sexual assault cases in Jefferson County for the last eight years. "It would be great. The SANE exam requires some specialized equipment, and it would be great if we ilk had that equipment in Jefferson County," Garrett said. INFGarrett said SANE exams are typically done on children, while rape kits are more often done on adults, mainly because of the kind of evidence that is collected. A SANE exam is typically not invasive, while a rape kit typically is, Garrett said of the difference between the two. The rape kit collects DNA evidence as well as hair and blood samples. The rape kit is an official kit that is used to maintain a chain of custody and ensure that evidence can be used during a trial, for example. In 2014, Garrett said, there was a second-degree rape case and a third-degree rape case in Jefferson County, both involving adults. In both cases, the victims were taken to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton so that a rape kit could be used. There were more child rape cases (nine) in Jefferson County in 2014 than adult rape cases (two) reported to authorities, and that has been fairly consistent since she began working here, Garrett said. Garrett said that in 2014, there were six cases of first-degree rape of a child involving a victim younger than 12 years old and a perpetrator at least 24 months older than the victim. There were three cases of second-degree rape of a child, in which the victim was 12-14 years old and the perpetrator was at least 36 months older than the victim. And there were three third degree cases involving victims 14 or 15 years old and perpetrators who were at least 48 months older. "I think the misnomer is that when people hear 'rape,' they connect it with violence [in the case of children]. And oftentimes, the perpetrators are family members," the detective said of such cases not involving violence. It often takes time for a child to speak up and tell what's happened, which makes the timing of a SANE exam all the more critical, so that important evidence is not lost, Garrett said. "But we would send them to the SANE exam. That's when we send them to Harrison," she said, echoing Kingsolver's hope that Jefferson Healthcare nurses can be SANE-trained. Terri Stewart of Harborview, who is conducting the special training for nurses, could not be reached for comment by this story's deadline. AVAILABLE .ADVOCATES Garrett reiterates Kingsolver's message that rape victims should know that they have a right to an advocate from Dove House. It is a free service Dove House offers. "I think more and more people are realizing that [advocates are available], and even the hospitals do tell patients of any physical trauma [that] they can get an advocate to come with them," Garrett said. While there may be lag time between a deputy taking a call about a case and Garrett getting involved, Garrett says she always encourages victims to contact Dove House, whether to obtain an advocate or get other services the agency might provide. Garrett also said that in a recent rape involving a 15-year-old girl in Quilcene, the girl first went to Jefferson Healthcare and then, because there were no SANE-trained nurses at Jefferson Healthcare, was sent to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles so that a rape kit could be used to collect evidence. Garrett said the last time a rape kit was used at Jefferson Healthcare that she's aware of was perhaps five years ago. Glenn said the hospital medically stabilizes a person who presents as a rape victim and then transfers the person to Harrison Medical Center, because Harrison has nurses available 24/7 who are specially trained not just to do a forensic examination, but also to give emotional support to the victim. Those nurses also serve as expert witnesses at trials, he noted. "So the issue isn't having rape kits available, per se, but having trained resources at the ready to manage (medically and emotionally) this traumatic event and specialized procedure," Glenn said. And that's something the hospital expects to be able to offer after the training this month. • • Hospital board continues to hear public on abortion •By Allison Arthur, Port Townsend Leader I April 1, 2015 3:30 am Jim McCarron did abortions at Jefferson Healthcare between 1978 and 1995 and throughout those years he would get hate mail and once even had a priest come to his home to talk. "Early in my career I made a decision to do abortions because I saw the need," the retired surgeon told Jefferson Healthcare commissioners at a public meeting March 24. "I did a bit of everything but after awhile one gets burned out. "I'm very much a defender of a woman's right to an abortion," McCarron said, urging the board to be realistic and have priorities as it takes on a politically charged issue. "Recruiting a good general surgeon or an OBGYN for this area is difficult enough without saying 'abortion service is part of this," McCarron added later. McCarron was one of about 10 people to speak at the March 24 meeting where names of some of the people on a reproductive task force established by CEO Mike Glenn were named. The members of the public who will serve on that committee have not been announced. The task force was established in the wake of a formal, if not legal, threat from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which told the hospital in a Feb. 18 letter that it should "change its policies and practices to fulfill its obligations" with the 1991 Reproductive Privacy Act. Women in Port Townsend, led by Christel Hildebrant, among others, have since met and organized to urge the system to provide what Megan Claflin, a Port Townsend resident, called a "full suite of reproductive services." "I encourage the commission to ensure that Jefferson Healthcare is in full compliance with the laws of the state. It is my opinion that our citizens should have access to a full suite of services," Claflin told the board March 24. "Together, we can do better," she said several times. TASK FORCE MEETS APRIL 9 Glenn announced more names of members of a task force that has been established to review access-to-care issues involving reproductive health services. The meeting is to be facilitated by Bertha Cooper with members Dr. Molly Parker, Dr. Rachel Bickling, Chief Medical Officer Joe Mattern, and nurses Jane Albee, Jackie Levin, Amber Hudson and Lisa Hold. Jefferson County Public Health Director Jean Baldwin and county nurse practitioner Susan O'Brien also are to be on the task force. The first meeting of the task force has been set for April 9. Glenn said it would not be open to the public. OTom Thiersch, an open government advocate, said at the end of the meeting March 24 that he was not happy that such committee meetings would be behind closed doors. "We own the hospital," Thiersch said of the public health-care system. Glenn earlier had said he felt good about the process that is taking place. "This is a complex issue for small rural communities," Glenn said. "Everybody on that &committee is committed to doing what is best for our community and helping us find a solution that is true to our commitment to safe and high quality care and also improve access to care for women in our community." OTHER COMMENTS "What is required here is the will of the board and the staff to provide equal access to all our citizens," said Deborah Jahnke of Port Townsend, adding that local women had shared stories of having to pass a gauntlet of bullies at other facilities to seek abortion services. "Hip replacements, colostomies, chemotherapy and voluntary terminations should be treated with the same level of care," she said. Alexis Nye disagreed with those who felt the hospital should provide abortion services close to home. "The women of this community aren't denied abortion or denied excellent care. These same women would think nothing of jumping in a car and going to see a movie" in another county, she said. As for care, Nye said she can't get dental care on Medicare. "Where's the ACLU for me?" she said. &Steve Oakford, who lives in Port Townsend, said the issue is whether every service can be available in a rural community. "They can't do everything for everybody. You do the best you can with the resources you have," he said. He noted that he couldn't have bypass surgery in Port Townsend. He had to go to Bremerton for that specialized service. Oakford said women could get a referral for such services and he said doctors shouldn't be required to perform abortions if they don't want to. He also said he felt the hospital should be "for life. This is not for end of life." BABIES, ABORTIONS In an interview Monday, March 30, McCarron elaborated on his time at Jefferson Healthcare. He said he fought many battles over what services should be offered. He wanted mammograms to be offered, for example. Today, the hospital is celebrating a state-of-the-art 3-D mammography equipment. McCarron also noted that while there's a lot of talk about the 55 women who left Jefferson County for an abortion in 2013 — the latest information available from the state on those services — almost half of the women who are pregnant in Jefferson County also leave to have their babies. "The hospital has done obstetrics, yet we have a big number of patients who go out of IP town to have their babies," McCarron said. "If you can go out of town to have your baby, you can go out of county to have an abortion," said the retired physician. Doing abortions was not easy for McCarron. "I lost several nurses who didn't want to be involved," he said. SAnd to this day, McCarron said the term "abortion" provokes reaction from all sides. McCarron, who was trained at Virginia Mason in Seattle, said he became familiar with abortions right about the time of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 that also prompted a national debate about the extent to which abortion should be legal. He suggests using the term "voluntary termination of pregnancy," and suggests there are procedures, such as dealing with ectopic pregnancies, that probably are done by Jefferson Healthcare. "I think the ACLU should find something better to do. Abortions are being handled. Kids have no trouble getting in a car and going to Silverdale for a movie. You can't force doctors to do abortions," said the retired surgeon. McCarron also said that there is less of an excuse today for an unwanted pregnancy because birth control options are far more available than they were 20 and 30 years ago. "I've been through it and this is a complete waste of resources. Meetings never solve anything," he said. Some of the women who have been at meetings, meanwhile, are watching to see how the hospital handles the issues — and who they put on the committee. S i Jefferson County Board of Health announces 2015 Public •Health Heroes April 1, 2015 3:00 am Port Townsend Leader, t ''- , '414'' yi ,i-i:.' sss ':,,,k, ' , iii ss\s's.s.' s,:',:ii., ' iirli 4. h 6 r , - Ria � "'-''' r .. (14 i ° 0•.„ ssfs'44,11100,,%. , ... . ,,,k l' .* „t—:,-.,,.....,f i, ':'-,'!,:!...--4 . „Ad " f::.,.'::'' it t : '',''''4ss''''' il`1 : * ,' - ,...,-- "I'' 7:''._ '' ' t'''';i:, sa,Z1.:71:: ' , n , 1.. ..:;,,T4'4411:, .,..00, , ,. ,-, ..: , :: , k 1 ,w,,00..1111111111-f: - .ft*, e 4 •2015 Health Heros Pictured(from left) are Mary Jo Mackenzie, Leah Ceehorn, Yuko Umeda and Carol Hardy of Jefferson County Nurse-Family Partnership; John Nowak and Dott Kelly of Jumping Mouse Children's Center; Sheila Westerman of the Jefferson County Board of Health; and Kristin Becker and Kitty Knapp of Jumping Mouse. Submitted photo In celebration of National Public Health Week (April 6-12, 2015), the Jefferson County Board of Health announces its 2015 Public Health Heroes: Jumping Mouse Children's Center (JMCC) and Jefferson County Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP). The theme of this year's National Public Health Week, an initiative of the American Public Health Association, is "Healthiest Nation 2030: Let's Make America the Healthiest Nation in One Generation," said a press release sent from Jefferson County Public Health. The theme focuses on transforming the way the country approaches health while placing attention on prevention and wellness. Inaccordance with this theme, the Board of Health honors JMCC and NFP for providing critical services to the youngest members of our community. Early intervention with infants and children provides the foundation for long- term health outcomes, and the work both these organizations do helps present future risk of health issues, substance abuse and other chronic diseases. "These special, special people are helping us take care of the youngest members of this •community and have been for quite some time," said Sheila Westerman, chair of the Jefferson County Board of Health. "I can't tell you how happy I am to give this award, because the more kids we can take care of, the better off we will be in the future." Jumping Mouse Children's Center transforms children's lives by providing expressive mental health therapy for as long as necessary. JMCC nurtures each child's healthy Aik development and supportive relationships both at home and in the community. For more up information, contact Kris Becker, executive director, at 379-5109, ext. 102, or visit jumping mouse.org. The Jefferson County Nurse-Family Partnership helps transform the lives of first-time, low-income moms and their babies. Through ongoing home visits from registered nurses, moms receive the care and support they need to have a healthy pregnancy, provide responsible care for their children and become more economically self-sufficient. For more information, contact Yuko Umeda at Jefferson County Public Health, 385-9416 or visit tinyurl.com/nc44hh9. More information about National Public Health Week, as well as a helpful Healthiest Nation 2030 partner tool kit can be found at nphw.org/tools-and-tips/toolkit. i yrir A hzhin ton State Department of • rilif Abfi ea t News Release For immediate release: April 3, 2015 (15-050) Contacts: Kelly Stowe, Communications Office 360-236-4022 Margise Allen, Communications Office 360-236-4072 #HealthiestNextGen celebrates farmers markets season in Port Townsend Launch in Jefferson Co includes Secretary of Health and Director of Early learning OLYMPIA—'Tis the season for fresh vegetables, at local farmers markets all over Washington, with special kick off events at the Port Townsend Farmers Market. Highlights on April 4 include ribbon- cutting, goat parade, and of course, local nutritious foods and veggies. This Saturday, Secretary of Health John Wiesman and Director of Early Learning Elizabeth (Bette) Hyde will join with Teresa Verraes, executive director of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce to welcome the community back to the Port Townsend Farmers Market at the 9 a.m. ribbon-cutting. Secretary Wiesman will be there to support access to fresh vegetables and fruit as one way to help create Wthe healthiest next generation of Washingtonians. Governor Jay Inslee launched the Healthiest Next Generation Initiative to join with families across the state in making our next generation the healthiest ever. The goal of the initiative is to help our children maintain a healthy weight, enjoy active lives, and eat well in places where they spend the most time—including early learning settings, schools, and their communities. The initiative is inspired by communities that have already made improvements to support their children. The Healthiest Next Generation is about finding statewide solutions to improving healthy weight in children. One recommendation put forward by the Governor's Council for the Healthiest Next Generation last September is to encourage vegetable and fruit purchases through the Basic Food/Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP). The Port Townsend Farmers Market did just that by partnering with Jefferson County Public Health on a shopping incentive program beginning in 2013 for low-income families, known as "Gimme 5." This program make dollars go farther for customers shopping at the Farmers Market with their benefits from ()the Basic Food/SNAP program or the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Customers using their Basic Food/SNAP benefits can receive an additional $5 dollar market token for every $10 spent and two $5 dollar tokens for every $20 spent. WIC/Seniors Farmer Market Nutrition Program benefits are matched dollar-for-dollar. The matching funds are only good for fresh farm products like vegetables and fruit. °Shopping incentive programs like Gimme 5 help to make the healthy choice the easy choice by making the cost of Farmers Market fruits and vegetables as well as processed foods competitive with large grocery store prices. Incentive programs like Gimme 5 help to ensure that low-income families can enjoy the freshest fruits and vegetables when they are in season. This is the 23rd year for the Port Townsend Farmers Market, which was named Washington State Market of the Year by the Washington State Farmers Market Association in 2011. The market features more than 70 vendors, including 40 farms and four artisan cheese makers, as well as a beloved Goat Parade. The Port Townsend Farmers Market is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is located on Tyler Street between Lawrence and Clay in Uptown Port Townsend. Visit the Jefferson County Farmers Market website for more information. Check out the Department of Health's page about Healthiest Next Generation Initiative or join us at #HealthiestNextGen. Department of Health website (www.doh.wa.gov) is your source for a healthy dose of information. Also,find •The us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter i Strait of Juan de Fuca beaches in Clallam closed to shellfish harvest Peninsula Daily News,April Si",2015 IIIIPORT ANGELES —The Strait of Juan de Fuca from Cape Flattery to the Jefferson County line has been closed to recreational harvesting of all species of shellfish because of the danger of potentially deadly PSP, paralytic shellfish poisoning. The state Department of Health extended the closure Friday. Earlier, Clallam County public beaches on the Strait were closed for varnish clams east of Cline Spit, Sequim Bay was closed for harvesting of all species and areas west of Cline Spit were closed for both butter and varnish clams. Sequim Bay in Clallam County and Discovery Bay in both Clallam and Jefferson counties remain closed to harvesting of butter and varnish clams. In Jefferson County, Quilcene Bay, Dabob Bay, Discovery Bay and Kilisut Harbor, Mystery Bay and Mats Mats Bay remain closed to butter and varnish clam harvesting. Pacific off-limits All Pacific Ocean beaches are closed for the season to harvesting of all species, including clams, geoduck, scallops, mussels, oysters, snails and other invertebrates. Closures do not apply to commercially harvested shellfish, which are tested before sale for safety. •PSP can sicken and possibly kill people with marine toxins that are not destroyed by cooking or freezing. In most cases, the algae that contains the poisons cannot be seen and must be detected by laboratory testing. Symptoms of PSP can appear within minutes or hours and usually begin with tingling lips and tongue, moving to the hands and feet, followed by difficulty breathing and possible death. Anyone experiencing such symptoms should contact a health care provider immediately and call 9-1-1 in extreme cases. Recreational closures do not apply to shrimp. Crabmeat is safe, but crab innards, also known as butter, may contain harmful levels of toxins. Clean crabmeat thoroughly and discard the guts. Recreational shellfishers should check the state Department of Health shellfish safety map at www.doh.wa.gov/ShellfishSafety.htm or call the Biotoxin Hotline at 800-562-5632 before harvesting shellfish anywhere in Washington. Recreational shellfishers also should check the state Fish and Wildlife regulations at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish. • Flu season over on Peninsula, health officer says Peninsula Daily News, April 6th, 2015 • While the public's — and public health officials' — attention was focused on measles, the seasonal scourge of influenza ended. At least five adults in Clallam County and one in Jefferson County died of the H3N2 virus and its complications this winter. People still are reporting upper respiratory illnesses, but their sneezes and wheezes aren't the flu, said Dr. Tom Locke, public health officer for Jefferson County. "There's other things that can give you the common cold," he said. Flu season in the Pacific Northwest usually commences in January after holiday travelers return to their workplaces and schools. It usually ends in March. Through the week of March 28, a total of 139 people in Washington state, including one child, had died from the flu in the 2014-15 season, according to the state Department of Health. The six deaths reported by the end of February on the North Olympic Peninsula were elderly patients who had had other medical conditions that contributed to their deaths. OThe 2014-15 flu season was the worst since 2005 for Americans 65 and older, partly because the strain shifted from the one for which health officials had prepared a vaccine. There is no national total of deaths from influenza because it is listed infrequently on death certificates, because victims weren't tested early enough to identify flu or because flu was a contributing cause to death from another chronic illness. • Measles outbreak prompts hundreds on Peninsula to take their best shot By James Casey, Peninsula Daily News, r?//G/,.)--` ilkCharacteristics of measles rhe v¢ns le a rasa, :h d by �,z load yg nye p t roll'tg hr vints- . to sf day.,. eontalnng tl aptais .-. 1;:, appears abdut Of dy tough n the taco and contaninated ' head.spreading anrtacuvti tl ea:gn tea . Fmstt to the hands and leef. 'I,The vvrus Bien ur cells fl The U can be n int baek of fee + 1 ons.tted band threat and!robsdays preto and nd Symptoms appear fout days after tte after 10 to 12 appearenoe<0 the days rash- (( 3',mooted k person has a a krver e.t.a ;.- —. two to Faun days, followed by a coughrunny nose and red, watery eyes. !."rry nar,<rv++✓i.rye fbavx( Y t('wvxi d/h hC(w Graphic by The New York Times News Service Measles: It's the rash that sparked the rush for shots on the North Olympic Peninsula. More than 1,000 in Clallam County from December through February were vaccinated with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine — and for many, varicella, too (MMR/V) — after the first of five measles cases in the county was reported Feb. 1. An additional 151 people were vaccinated in Jefferson County, where no measles cases were confirmed this winter, during the same period. March figures are not available yet. Vaccinations should be all the rage, say public health officials on the North Olympic Peninsula. They blame last winter's measles outbreak on people's unwillingness to immunize themselves or their school-age children. "I would like to see the number even higher," said Dr. Tom Locke, public health officer for Jefferson County and formerly also the health officer for Clallam County. Figures for 2014 from the state Department of Health showed that 56 percent of students in Jefferson and 89 percent in Clallam were fully immunized against so-called childhood diseases. A minimum of 90 percent is considered the threshold to prevent a disease from spreading widely, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Unless a new case is reported, the current measles threat won't end officially for another two weeks. April 19 is when two full periods of possible contagion will expire after the last reported case, foreclosing the possibility that another measles carrier remains to be discovered. All of Clallam's cases were connected to the first confirmed case in the county: a 52-year-old Port Angeles man who was hospitalized with measles and other health issues at Olympic Medical Center. He recovered. • The last case diagnosed was March 4 in a man who had received a vaccine that hadn't been administered in 44 years. He quarantined himself, health officials said, and was unlikely to spread the highly infectious viral disease. •In all, two juveniles and three adults were diagnosed with measles. A 43-year-old man and a 5-year-old girl caught measles after exposure to the man who came down with the first case. A 14-year-old sibling of the kindergarten girl contracted measles after exposure to her. The fifth patient was a relative of two of the others. Clallam County has had five of the seven measles cases reported in Washington state. The immunization figures represent only vaccine that was distributed by the state Department of Health, which provides vaccine for all children in Washington. The numbers don't include shots that were purchased privately, Locke said. In Clallam County, MMR and MMRN children's vaccinations totaled 229 for December 2013 and January-February 2014. In December 2014 and January and February 2015, they shot up to 952. Another 329 doses were given to adults at county clinics. Even the figure of 952 injections represents a 316 percent increase, but Iva Burks, director of Clallam .Health and Human Services, said the numbers are relatively low. "If this were King County, it would be pretty significant, but we were pushing it," Burks said, referring to the special no-cost measles vaccination clinics the county held during the outbreak. As for King County, the state health department reported a 20 percent hike in measles vaccinations for children. Snohomish County logged a 19 percent increase. Overall, Washington vaccinated about 28 percent more children over early 2014. Despite the rise in vaccinations, state legislators turned back an effort to close the exemption for "personal" reasons that parents may cite to avoid having their children immunized. The final tally isn't in yet, but Locke has said the costs of containing the outbreak could be as high as $200,000. The raw cost of the outbreak— measured as the increase in vaccinations over the preceding year and multiplied by the $110 cost of each shot—totals nearly $80,000. That doesn't count the overtime put in by Health and Human Services workers or the cost of work that was set aside during the outbreak and remains to be done. Then there's the extra work put in by private providers, school nurses and other health care workers who •reviewed their records and urged parents of unvaccinated or undervaccinated children to get them immunized, said Dr. Jeanette Stehr-Green, interim Clallam County public health officer. One shot provides about 90 percent immunity from measles. A second dose boosts immunity to at least 97 percent. As for unvaccinated people, nine in 10 probably will catch measles, health experts say, if they are exposed to the airborne virus that can linger in the air for two hours after an infected person has sneezed or coughed. Stehr-Green said, "I knew that they [private providers] were doing a lot, and they stepped up to the plate." The diagnosis of the first measles case was made by an alert OMC emergency room doctor who'd never seen the disease, according to the hospital. From there, Health and Human Services workers tracked that patient around Puget Sound and the Peninsula, contacting more than 200 people and confirming measles in two children, later in two more adults, who'd had contact with the man. The investigative effort and the immunization campaign that followed it stopped the highly contagious virus from spreading exponentially, Stehr-Green said. "I think that we responded just admirably," she said. As for Burks, she hopes the outbreak is over. "We're just crossing our fingers," she said, "and waiting for the 19th [of April]." • Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey IDeninsuladailynews.com •