A registered dietitian Stephanie Ahlgren and retired registered nurse Daylene Ackerman are the prime selections for two new positions on the Yakima Overall health District’s Board of Overall health.
Ahlgren teaches diet at Yakima Valley Higher education and Ackerman is a 34-yr nurse who put in the earlier 18 several years at Yakima Valley Memorial Healthcare facility before lately retiring.
Two alternates also have been preferred: Randall Knapp, a consumer of community wellness and Katrina Henkle, a home loan broker and executive director of Selah Downtown Association.
They ended up chosen during a specific wellness board meeting Thursday night time.
Though the wellness board identified its leading two picks, Yakima County Commissioners have remaining say and are permitted to opt for from the pool of 4.
Commissioners are anticipated to make a closing selection at their following business meeting on Tuesday.
The wellbeing board designed the selections in time to satisfy a July 1 deadline to comply with a new state law requiring an equal number of elected and nonelected users to provide on wellbeing boards, among other adjustments.
The new law intends to continue to keep politics out of coverage and decisions concerning community overall health issues. County-degree health board conversations and decisions drew extra consideration pursuing point out directives responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. At moments, the Yakima board of health has opposed statewide orders.
Eighteen men and women utilized for the openings, and the entire board interviewed 10.
Till now, the board of well being was composed of 3 Yakima County Commissioners, two city council users and two citizen representatives — seven in all.
All those users are Commissioners Amanda McKinney, Ron Anderson and LaDon Linde, Yakima Town Council member Patricia Byers and Toppenish Metropolis Council member Naila Duval. Dr. Sean Cleary and Dr. Dave Atteberry are the citizen reps.
The new legislation also demands wellbeing boards to allow a consultant from Indigenous American tribes inside of their provider area.
The Yakama Country is within just the Yakima Wellbeing District. Less than the new regulation, the American Indian Well being Fee is responsible for appointing a Yakama member.
The overall health board has however to be knowledgeable about who the Yakama representative will be, stated Ryan Ibach, the overall health district’s chief running officer.
“All we have been explained to is that the American Indian Health Fee realizes the benefit of having tribal associates on wellness boards during the condition and they are dedicated to selecting customers by July 1,” Ibach explained.
That would convey the well being board to 10 members, of which half are elected.
This story has been up to date to make clear that Yakima County Commissioners will decide on two new wellness board customers from four candidates.
