The Tacoma-Pierce County Public Health Department will not be dissolved, after the Pierce County Council failed to pass an proposal that would have broken up the long term public health partnership and allowed the county to take over that department's duties.
The Pierce County Council had considered dissolving the agreement that forms the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, a local partnership that makes public health decisions independently from the county.
The county council voted 3-3 Tuesday on the ordinance that would have granted authority to Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier to terminate the agreement, according to a county press release. The ordinance needed a majority to pass.
Before voting on the ordinance on Tuesday, the council passed 4-2 an amendment that aligned the termination proposal with Gov. Jay Inslee's requirement that stopped the move if breaking up the health department harmed Pierce County's COVID-19 response.
Currently, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is run by a Board of Health composed of members appointed from the Tacoma City Council, Pierce County Council, the Pierce County Cities and Towns Association and the Pierce County Medical Society.
The proposal would have meant that the county council and the county executive would take over the health department.
Ordinance sponsor Pierce County Councilmember Pam Roach told KING 5 earlier this month that having the county council and county executive run the public health department would allow for increased community input.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Director Dr. Anthony Chen told KING 5 this week that the change was worth considering at some point, but that the department's resources right now are focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and distribution of the vaccine, which was released to the public this week.