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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022_10_18 JKunzler_Health Dept transparencyFrom:Joe A. Kunzler To:Board of Health; Greg Brotherton; Allison Berry Subject:JAK public comment for 20 Oct 2022 Date:Tuesday, October 18, 2022 3:01:52 PM Attachments:8x11 Sound OFF -- Health Dept. Transparency Done Well.pdf ALERT:BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. Dear Jefferson County Board of Health; Figured you should enjoy the attachment. I intend to present the attachment to Dr. Berry, MD at the start of your meeting but so the Board and staff can read ahead of time - here ya go. Please take under advisement I will have to leave for the ferry by 3 PM sharp. Expect me on campus by 2:15 PM. Thoughtfully in gratitude; Joe A. Kunzler growlernoise@gmail.com Sound OFF: Health Dept. Transparency Done Well: Contributed by Joe Kunzler One place furthering the cause of open government is Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Dr. Allison Berry, the public health officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties, graciously accepts public questions at weekly Public Health Updates on Port Townsend radio station KPTZ and at Board of Health meetings. I share this resource because, as members of the open government community, we need to debrief regularly regarding current activities in open governance and consider how we can improve -- especially during the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Debrief?" It's advice from accomplished aviator and ethicist retired USAF Colonel Kim Campbell in Aiming Higher: A Journey Through Military Aviation Leadership. Campbell advises, "For an event or experience to be meaningful, leaders must take the time to analyze and discuss how our missions are going. We must ask ourselves, what did we do well and what we could do better the next time." In that context, when a public health threat is in our midst, the people have the right to know about the danger and to learn about the best medical science on how to mitigate the threat in order to protect ourselves. When health boards cancel meetings – such as my officials at the Skagit County Board of Health have done -- and public health officers avoid media interviews and direct public inquiry, the public’s right to know what their local public health officers know is dangerously limited. That’s why I sought out Dr. Berry’s expertise. Furthermore, a public exposed to questionable information flying around but lacking access to public health officers is not just less informed but likely to be less cooperative with public health recommendations. "Public health depends on public trust," wrote Dr. Leana Wen, a former public health officer for Baltimore, in Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health. "For any response to be effective, people need to heed government orders, and to do that, they must have faith that their leaders know what they're talking about and have citizens' best interests at heart. A breakdown in that trust means that public health measures fall apart." For Dr. Berry, the regular briefings and responses to questions from her Jefferson and Clallum County constituents are an excellent tool for public communications. As she said in one of those briefings: “Things like this program are very helpful as a place where people can raise questions, and we can answer them for the benefit of the whole public. Often when I get lots of emails they're all about the same thing ... I really want to thank KPTZ for giving us this forum, where we can answer those questions in a broad way that reaches the public as a whole.” Dr. Berry's accessibility gives citizens a credible resource for information about public health issues. This is especially helpful as my fellow Americans are naturally skeptical of perceived and actual restrictions on their liberty, such as vaccination or masking requirements. Public health officials may be more successful at promoting compliance when they are accessible for questions to explain and defend public health orders. Further, Dr. Berry has shown great courage. She has withstood bullying and threats, some of them in response to an order requiring proof of vaccination in order to dine at a restaurant. She went on KIRO-FM to defend her vaccination order with libertarian Dori Monson, which is more than can be said for most public health officers in this state. Her leadership was recognized by the Olympic Educational Service District 114, which provides regional assistance to the Kitsap and North Olympic Peninsula school districts. The District gave awards to her, to Dr. Gib Morrow of Kitsap County and to Dr. Keri Gardner of Mason County. Despite the inappropriate reactions of some, many in the community respond to decision-making based on shared data. Dr. Berry and other responsive officials provide welcome and needed resources for public health advocates who could not call upon their home team -- such as my Skagit County government, which was not nearly as accessible. For members of the public who needed accurate medical information to defend mask and vaccine requirements on public transit, and who wanted current information on our community's challenges and progress, Dr. Berry was there for all of us and a welcome example of accessible public servant.