Feb. 1—Spokane County commissioners appear poised to appoint a naturopathic doctor to one of the vacant seats on the Spokane Regional Health District’s Board of Health.
On Monday, the four current members of the Board of Health will begin a lengthy interview process that will conclude with the selection of three new members. Eight finalists were interviewed for the Board of Health’s public health and health care provider vacancies.
Spokane County commissioners in November voted to dissolve and reform the board of health to comply with a new state law that requires the board to have an equal number of elected and unelected members.
The new board will have eight members. Each of the three commissioners has a seat, and each city in Spokane County has one member. Commissioners selected Millwood Mayor Kevin Freeman for the role during the first phase of the new Board of Health.
The remaining four seats must be filled by individuals representing categories outlined in state law. One representative will be appointed by the American Indian Health Commission. The commissioner and Freeman can choose the remaining three. In addition to the health care provider and public health categories, Washington state law requires one local stakeholder representative and one consumer public health representative.
After about three hours of interviews Monday, it became clear that the commissioners and Freeman have starkly contrasting ideas about who qualifies for the public health and health care provider category.
Freeman said he would like either Dr. Monica Brykowski-May or Dennis Smart, who has a doctorate in public health, to fill the role. Mr. Blykowski-May and his Mr. Smart both have decades of experience in the medical field.
The committee members’ favorite candidate was a naturopathic doctor.
Commissioners Mary Cooney, Al French and Josh Kearns all named Alicia Policani and Jason Kinley as finalists. Both have doctorates in naturopathic medicine and currently work as naturopathic doctors. Mr. Kinley served on the Board of Health for the past two years.
These two candidates are on the final list for all commissioners, but it appears that other candidates are still on the table.
French said he would be happy if Andrea Frostad, a dental hygienist who has served on the health committee for the past four years, joins the new committee.
Kearns named Dr. Daniel Repsold, a physician at Excelsior Family Medicine, as one of his favorites.
Mr. Cuny, like Mr. Freeman, named Mr. Brajkowski-May as a finalist.
On Tuesday morning, commissioners and Freeman will interview community stakeholders and consumer candidates in the public health category.
After these interviews, the four Board of Health members will make final recommendations for the three vacancies.
These recommendations will go to county commissioners for final approval.
If there is a tie among the four current board members, the three county commissioners will vote to break the tie.
