Through the Language Access Collaborative led by Public Health-Seattle King County, our agency now has access to translation and interpretation services in over 50 languages. With nearly 40% of Grant County residents speaking a language other than English at home, this service has become essential.
Grant County Health District serves a rural county, currently home to just over 100,000 people. As a public agency, it is our duty to understand who is in our community and how they prefer to receive services and information. Through the Language Access Collaborative led by Public Health-Seattle King County, our agency now has access to translation and interpretation services in over 50 languages. With nearly 40% of Grant County residents speaking a language other than English at home, this service has become essential.
Through the Language Access Collaborative led by Public Health-Seattle King County, our agency now has access to translation and interpretation services in over 50 languages… this service has become essential.
FPHS exists everywhere in Washington in order to serve everyone in Washington. Check out some of these other FPHS stories to learn about some of the other places or paths for FPHS delivery.
Skagit County Public Health has been able to provide STI testing, treatment, and outreach to communities living in remote areas, experiencing homeless, or facing other barriers to accessing care.
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The wraparound support of FPHS funding for communications and community engagement help the Board improve its efforts to reach those impacted by Board decisions and recommendations. This year, FPHS funding enabled the Board to produce video notices in English, Spanish, and American Sign Language for newborn screening TAC meetings and the hearing screening and school environmental health and safety rulemaking projects.
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When the Lineage Logistics cold storage facility in Finley, Washington, caught fire on April 21, 2024, it ignited more than just flames. Over the next eight weeks, the 525,000 squarefoot warehouse smoldered, blanketing the surrounding rural community in heavy smoke and uncertainty. For residents, questions piled up quickly: Was the air safe to breathe? What was in the water? Who was going to help? At the center of those answers was the Communications team at Benton-Franklin Health District (BFHD). As firefighters battled the blaze, the BFHD Communications team stepped in to battle misinformation, build trust, and ensure the community had access to accurate, timely, and life-protecting information.
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Having a Community Health Assessment (CHA) allowed the department to evaluate health equity, identify critical service gaps, and understand the nuanced barriers that impact rural well-being—from healthcare access and behavioral health to food security, transportation, and childcare. These insights have served as the foundation for every subsequent decision, program, and partnership GCPH has launched.
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In 2024, the Washington State Public Health Lab provided significant testing support for a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza event. Many of the staff supporting this outbreak response were funded by FPHS funds. Without the FPHS funding our response would have been less robust. We would have needed to limit throughput and likely reduce operating hours.
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People who move to eastern Washington are often unaware of the unique set of environmental hazards, extreme weather events, and potential disasters that may occur in the region. Some newcomers to the area primarily speak and read languages other than English. To serve the whole community’s emergency preparedness needs, public health agencies provide accessible information that helps residents prepare for local threats and hazards. Importantly, FPHS funds supported (or in coordination with local nonprofit organizations, SRHD leveraged FPHS funds to support) the translation and targeted dissemination of plain-language public health emergency preparedness materials covering extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and general household preparedness topics to disproportionately impacted communities in Spokane County.
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