Mission

The Snohomish Health District’s mission is to spearhead efforts to protect, promote and advance the collective health of our community. It will continue to do this by focusing on activities that are grounded in a set of foundational public health services, which include:

Communicable Diseases & Notifiable Conditions
Chronic Diseases & Injuries
Environmental Health
Maternal, Child & Family Health
Vital Records
Ongoing, Critical Public Health Issues
Access to Medical, Dental & Mental Health Care
Build a Sustainable Organization

Update: Testing at Rucker Building

We will be continuing our testing of employees through Wednesday, October 27th.
As a reminder, if you have had any of these symptoms below within the last 72 hours, please do NOT come to work. Your coworkers will thank you.

Fever of 100.4 or higher
Chills
Cough
Loss of taste and/or smell
Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Headache
Muscle or body aches
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

If you have any of the symptoms, contact your supervisor immediately and do not come to the District office.

Division Updates

Administration:

Hi Everyone,

Next week, beginning October 24^th, is recognized as Disarmament Week. During this week the United Nations primarily focuses on nuclear disarmament. They also encourage disarmament efforts in the area of land mines, small arms, and other types of conventional weapons. In recent years, and definitely during the pandemic many of us have endured words as weapons, often denouncing the work we do to protect the public.

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/disarmament-week-week-of-october-24/

In alignment with disarmament Week, I want to empower each of you to disarm the power of these words. Disarming our reactions to those negative words we hear from a vocal minority in the public will decrease our combined stress and allow us to focus on the tasks in front of us. For nearly two years, the District has maintained a high level of response in coordination with local, regional, and federal partners. Keep it up, take time to reflect on your accomplishments in historic times and disarm the words of those who question what the good work that we do every day.

Shawn

Human Resources

Open enrollment is 11/1 to 11/17. The Virtual Benefits Fair will be Tuesday, November 2nd, from 10am to Noon. It will also be recorded. Open enrollment will be processed through Paycom. For those employees that were here in previous years, no more blue memo!

Things you can do during open enrollment:

Enroll in a medical plan, if you previously waived medical coverage for other coverage.
Waive enrollment in medical coverage if you have or are enrolling in other comprehensive group medical coverage effective January 1, 2022.
Enroll or remove eligible dependents in medical, dental and vision plans.
Change medical plans and/or dental plans.
Sign up for flexible spending account and/or dependent care account.

Temporary employees with end dates of 12/31 will still be asked to participate in open enrollment in case end date is extended into 2022.

Reminder to get your flu shot and email HRQuestions@snohd.org a copy of your proof of flu vaccine, or you can sign a declination form. Please email HR for the form.

Environmental Health:

Food Program
Welcome Keith Smith, our newest EHS! Keith comes to us from Denver and will be sitting in the cubical between Hasina and Juliet Lopez. Come on over to EH land and introduce yourself!

We said goodbye last week to one of our Food Team Leads, Phil Wyman. That means we have a lead position open on the team. Know anyone who wants to work for us? The position is posted on the website.

Customer Service
We have a new PA II starting November 1^st.

Sharon Mauch will be leaving us in November. Many of you have known Sharon a long time as she’s been working at the District for several years. We wish her good luck in her future endeavors and we’ll miss her!

Land Use
The new staff are doing awesome and we’re getting our feet back under us after a summer of struggling under heavy workloads. Way to go land use staff!!

Safe Environments
It’s been all about solid waste complaint investigations for these folks. Who wouldn’t want to walk up to a creepy house in the middle of nowhere buried in garbage and tell the owner they need to clean up? That’s why these staff are awesome!

Prevention Services:

The Prevention Services Division Refugee Health Program plays an important role in the resettlement of refugees. Our Refugee Health Program conducts health screenings and helps to connect refugee’s with primary care providers. Currently, Manreet is holding down the program as we look to hire a part-time nurse in the program. The Health District is also participating in a welcome center being run by the county where Afghan refugee’s can get connected to healthcare providers, eat a meal with community members, and get donated household goods.

Asiyah and Susan from our Communicable Disease Program and Christine Campbell from our COVID response attended to offer MMR and Polio vaccine if needed. Christine Campbell has continued to attend over the last two weeks.

Workplace Safety: Fatigue on the job

By Lynn Ljungquist

Safety Talk

You are the most important safeguard in protecting yourself and others while at work. When you are not able to fully focus and perform your duties correctly, you could be leaving yourself at risk for injury. Being tired on the job is a major problem in the United States for workers. Fatigue leaves workers performing at lower levels and this exposes them to higher chances of an injury or an incident occurring. It is important to prevent fatigue while on the job to keep yourself and those around you safe.

Workplace Statistics

Fatigue carries an overall estimated cost of more than $136 billion per year to employers in health-related lost productivity.
1 in every 5 workers is sleep deprived.
Poor sleeping habits lead to stress on the job.
In a survey by Caremark Rx Inc. of 29,000 adults, 38% reported feeling tired at work in the last two weeks.

Fatigue Causes:

Lack of sleep
Too many demands at work or home
Medication
Other health problems such as depression or anxiety

Safe Work Practices to Prevent or Improve Fatigue Issues

Get plenty of rest. It is recommended to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night. If your work schedule is too demanding or the hours you are working are making you feel fatigued every single day, talk with a supervisor. Sometimes responsibilities or schedules can be altered to improve productivity and safety in the workplace.
It is important to understand the side effects of medication before using it at work. Talk with your doctor to make sure he/she understands your work responsibilities to ensure the medication will not interfere with your performance.
Take care of your health. Addressing other health issues can greatly improve how you feel both at home and at work.
Eat a better diet. Food to humans is as gasoline is to a car - if you put dirty gas in your car it will not run well. The same goes for your body!
For short periods of less intense fatigue, use caffeinated beverages to help you wake up. Another option is to get up from where you are working to stretch or take a walk.

Shout Out to Marie Labrake!

Kathi K. wanted to thank Marie for all the help she gave her with getting her booster shot. She wanted to let Marie know that she got the booster and is very happy with the help Marie gave her. She said that without Marie’s help she would not have been able to get the booster shot.

Local Health Jurisdictions Receive
WSPHA 2021 Secretary of Health Award

Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah just announced his WSPHA 2021 Secretary of Health Award…and it goes to LHJs and Tribal Nations!

“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and the bottom of our collective heart at the Department of Health for your incredible dedication throughout our response and doing this even when it’s not appreciated by everyone.”
-Dr. Umair A. Shah, WA Secretary of Health

Watch announcement here (begins at 50 minutes): Dr. Umair A. Shah, WA Secretary of Health, WSPHA Conference Plenary, 10/18/21 - YouTube

Employee Awards

Nicole Thomsen Receives 2021 WSPHA Public Health Excellence Award!

Nicole Thomsen is our Health Policy Analyst at SHD. This award honors a public health employee who is not in a high-level management position and who has shown excellence in public health practice. Way to go, Nicole!

"Nicole has been our constant, stalwart, resourceful, and gracious employee from the Snohomish Health District. During this hectic time and rampant misinformation, Nicole has been a guiding light and wealth of accurate information to help us respond to COVID in a factually accurate way."
-Paula Rhyne, Legislative Aide for County Councilmember Megan Dunn

Heather Thomas is Recognized as Distinguished Alumni

Heather Thomas, our Public and Government Affairs Manager, was recognized as 2021's Distinguished Alumni by Leadership Snohomish County last week. LSC noted her spectacular work during the COVID response and her many, many other contributions to public health and the community. Special thanks to Pam Aguilar and Heather's daughter, Jossalyn, for helping to arrange the surprise via Zoom. If you would like to see Heather's award (it's a rubber duck!), it is currently residing in her office.

Health Literacy Corner

Welcome to the Health Literacy Corner!

As you may know, Snohomish Health District was recently awarded the Department of Health and Human Services’ Advancing Health Literacy Grant. With the help of SHD’s Communication Team, the Advancing Health Literacy Team will use this Health Literacy Corner to provide employees with interesting knowledge and fun activities pertaining to health literacy throughout the duration of the program.

Did you know October is Health Literacy Month? Well, it is! Based on its founder’s description, Health Literacy Month is “a time when health literacy advocates around the world promote the importance of making health information understandable.” The goal is to draw attention to issues surrounding, and foster interorganizational conversations about, health literacy.

So, what is health literacy? As defined by Healthy People 2030, personal health literacy relates to an individual’s ability to access, understand, and use health information in order to make well-informed decisions about their health. Organizational health literacy pertains to how organizations equitably empower individuals to access, understand, and use health information to make health decisions. With these new descriptions, the emphasis is placed on an individual’s ability to actually use health information, making the conversation surrounding health literacy more client/patient based, and, in turn, more centered on equity.

You may be asking yourself, what’s the big deal? Well, health literacy is a stronger indicator of an individual’s health than age, income, employment status, and educational level (Felter, 2021). Nearly 40% of Americans have below basic or basic health literacy levels and only 12% of American adults have a proficient health literacy level (The Health Literacy of American Adults, 2003). This means that most Americans do not fully understand health information provided to them, which leads to less informed health decisions and more negative health outcomes.

In terms of COVID-19, your Advancing Health Literacy Team is working to increase individual and organizational health literacy in an effort to decrease health disparities related to accessing, understanding, and using COVID-19 information. We hope to engage all of you throughout this program, and this Health Literacy Corner is part of that. For now, we have attached a short video about health literacy and hope you can find some time to watch it.

Thank you for reading thus far, taking the time to learn a bit about health literacy, and engaging with us in the Advancing Health Literacy Project. We hope you’ve found this interesting and insightful.

See you in the next edition!

If you have any inquiries, the Advancing Health Literacy Project email is snoahl@snohd.org. Health Literacy Overview Video: https://youtu.be/3e5lXMcedDc

Make Sure You’re Ready for a COVID-Safe Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner... are you ready? Make sure you are prepared for a safe and happy holiday by following these easy tips. For more info on how to celebrate, check out our latest press release: https://www.snohd.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=622.

Comms Corner: Pumpkin Carving

New pumpkin carving activities are available on our website, just in time for Halloween! Grab a pumpkin and carve away! You can download the activities at www.snohd.org/activities

Share your creations with us by tagging us in a social media post. Have a happy Halloween!

Have a request to promote content on social media?
If you have any social media content you would like us to promote on social media, let us know at communications@snohd.org. We have previously promoted opioid and suicide prevention as well as SIDS Awareness Month campaigns. The Communication Team is always eager to help you promote the latest health information.

Are you following SHD?
Take a minute to hit like and follow on our social channels! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok. This is a great way to keep up on the latest info on all things public health.

Welcome

The following new employees have joined the Snohomish Health District team. Please give them a warm welcome!

Lydia Azanleko

Lydia is a Public Health Nurse with MCH.

Keith Smith

Keith is an EHS with the Food Safety program.

Resource Section

Tips for a Safer Halloween
Find a Flu Vaccine
Health Literacy Overview Video

News You Can Use

Preparing for a Fight Against Two Viruses
The U.S. is ready to roll out the COVID vaccine once it's approved for kids age 5-11

Upcoming Events and Reminders

Public Health Program Policy Committee Meeting: 10/21

Administration Committee Meeting: 10/27

Executive Committee Meeting: 10/28

Open Enrollment 2022 Virtual Presentation: 11/2