[Skamania] 🩺 The Health Data Blind Spot - BOH 3/10

At the March 10th 2026 Skamania County Board of Health Meeting, our unique geographic location is creating a "blind spot" for local health data, making it harder to track viruses like the flu and RSV in our community. Plus, the health department is teaming up with the Prosecutor's office to ramp up crackdowns on severe nuisance properties to protect our groundwater and prevent major fire hazards.

In This Episode:

• The Skamania County Board of Health adopts a brand new Mission, Vision, and Values statement.
• A look at the new administrative rules for appointing Board of Health members.
• Updates on the role of the Board of Health in tackling environmental hazards and nuisance properties.
• A new six-week chronic pain management class is starting in the county.

Resources & Links:

• 🗞️ Read the full written Dispatch: skamaniadispatch.com
• Chronic Pain Class Info: Call (509) 427-3850 to register.
• Regional Health Info: Contact Amy Raney (SWACH Coordinator) at (564) 397-5721.
• Next Meeting: Tuesday, June 9th at 1:30 PM.

Meeting Materials: https://www.skamaniacounty.org/home/showpublisheddocument/17644/639083204898800000

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi there, and welcome to the very first audio edition of the Scamania Dispatch. I'm Kate Bertash. Going forward, this podcast feed is going to be your home for local government roundups across the Columbia Gorge. Depending on the day, we'll be covering Scamania County, Click Attack County, or regional all-gorge issues. But today, we are focused squarely on the Scamania County Board of Health for March 2026. We start today with a full look at our local health data and the structural blind spot making it hard to see the full picture. We're still right in the middle of respiratory virus season, and health officials say that RSV is currently hitting its seasonal peak. But tracking these viruses is a unique challenge for us here in the gorge. Because many of you cross the river to get care in Oregon or use our federal VA system, your health data actually doesn't automatically route back to the Washington Department of Health. This creates a massive blind spot. It makes it difficult for local officials to accurately measure the true community spread of a contagious virus or the actual vaccination coverage rate of any of this population. Speaking of contagious viruses, health officials also warned the board about the national rise in measles cases. Washington State currently has 26 confirmed cases. If you aren't sure of your status, it is a great time to double-check vaccination records or get a tighter test. Tuning now to environmental health, the health department is teaming up with prosecutor Adam Kick to crack down on severe public nuisance properties. They're specifically looking at cases in Stevenson and Underwood. In a rural area like ours, these aren't just eyesores. When a property accumulates massive amounts of waste or fails to maintain a working septic system, it creates a major fire hazard. And worse, it risks leaking toxins right into our shared groundwater. The county is stepping in because these properties appear to pose an immediate threat to the community. So moving over to the Board of Health itself, members spent a lot of time this month on long-term structural health. They formally adopted a new mission, vision, and value statement, and they approved new guidelines to make appointing non-elected members much more transparent. They're also attempting to synchronize a meeting calendar with the Washington State Legislative Session so that they can be better advocates for county funding. And finally, a quick public health resource before we wrap up today. If you deal with chronic pain, it seems that the county is launching a six-week evidence-based management class starting on March 15th, which means that it's already in motion and you should definitely catch up. It'll focus on non-pharmaceutical strategies for pain management. So looking ahead, it seems that there is no April meeting, but the board's next regular gathering isn't until Tuesday, June 9th. They're planning a special workshop until then to establish specific public health objectives for the county. So for a full list of links, contact numbers for that pain management class, and a breakdown of the new septic program, you can always find the full text version of this newsletter at schemania dispatch.com. And while you're there, you can make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an update right in your inbox. Thanks for staying engaged with local government, and I will talk to you next time.