Dr. Alicia Thompson, administrative officer of the Spokane Regional Health District, told Spokane County Spotlight listeners that the district’s work “touches the lives of every single person in Spokane County every day,” and outlined efforts to strengthen treatment access, staff capacity and data systems.

Thompson described the scope of services at the health district, from the Nurse Family Partnership for new mothers to routine communicable disease investigation and restaurant inspections. She said the district operates an opioid treatment program that provides medication-assisted treatment to people dependent on heroin, fentanyl or prescription opioids and estimated the clinic serves about 950 to 1,000 clients weekly.

The health district is preparing a five-year strategic plan built around four primary goals: being “visible and trusted in the community,” modeling evidence-based decision making, creating “a workplace where everyone is valued,” and improving internal processes and efficiency. Thompson said the plan was developed with employee and community partner input and that the board would review and consider adopting it in the coming month.

On opioid treatment, Thompson said the program has a long history locally and provides Medicaid-supported medication-assisted treatment. “What we do at our treatment center is we help individuals who are already addicted to an opioid…through what’s called a Medicaid assisted, medication assisted treatment,” she said. Thompson noted the intake assessment is resource intensive, taking about three hours, and the district is exploring staffing and scheduling changes to improve same-day access for people seeking treatment.

Thompson and Commissioner Amber Waldriff discussed workforce stability after COVID-19. Thompson said turnover and stress during the pandemic prompted a focus on rebuilding leadership and supports for employees: recruiting staff, investing in leadership and improving systems such as medical records for the opioid clinic. “We need good leadership to continue to support the workforce,” Waldriff said.

Thompson highlighted the district’s data center and public dashboards, including opioid and homeless-data dashboards, and encouraged community groups and grant writers to use SRHD data at SRHD.org. She also referenced partnerships across health care and community organizations as essential to response and outreach.

Thompson encouraged residents to consider careers in public health and said the district seeks to make services more accessible while supporting staff and partners. Commissioner Waldriff and Thompson closed by directing listeners to SRHD.org and the county’s YouTube channel for program videos and public meeting recordings.