News

Dr. Dietrich to Serve Two-year Term on the Newly Expanded Board of Health

(ELMA, WA) – Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ken Dietrich was one of four appointed to serve on the newly expanded Grays Harbor County Board of Health. He took his seat on the board alongside the three existing members at the quarterly meeting July 28.

“I am excited to work with other members of the County Board of Health to help improve the lives of all Grays Harbor County residents. Summit Pacific has a bold vision to make this the healthiest community in the Nation and I am grateful to bring a focused healthcare lens to the board.”

Dr. Ken Dietrich joins the board with extensive knowledge in both medicine and administration. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a Fellow of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. He has worked in critical care medicine for more than 34 years and has served as a pediatric critical care physician at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma for 26 years. He continues to practice medicine in Summit Pacific’s emergency department and acute care unit. Visit https://summitpacificmedicalcenter.org/executive-team/ to read Dr. Ken Dietrich’s full biography.

New Board of Health members were appointed by the Board of County Commissioners from four categories:

1. Consumer of public health: Char Hood of Aberdeen, two-year term.
2. Other community stakeholder: Chris Olive of Aberdeen, one-year term.
3. Public health, health care facilities, provider: Dr. Kenneth Dietrich of Oakville, two-year term.
4. Tribal representative: Chrissy Winn of Taholah, three-year term.

The state legislature in 2021 passed legislation that directed each local health jurisdiction to expand its board of health by July 1, 2022. Grays Harbor County Commissioners – who will continue to serve on the Board of Health – passed a resolution May 17 to expand the board from three elected members to add four appointed positions.

For more on the Grays Harbor County Board of Health visit https://www.healthygh.org/boh.

View the full press release here.