BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Whatcom County Public Health Advisory Board has weighed in on racism.
The board voted unanimously at its meeting yesterday to send a resolution declaring racism as a public health crisis to the Whatcom County Health Board.
Whatcom County Health Officer Greg Stern said the board’s “job is to lower barriers, to identify barriers to justice and to say ‘What can we do collectively to increase just allocation of resources to recognize the impact of poverty and discrimination that understand historic trends and how to mitigate those?”
The resolution will now reportedly be sent to the Whatcom County Council acting as the health board, which has has the ability to make policy countywide.
The advisory board’s page on the Whatcom County web site lists nine local residents as members, with a mission of advising the Health Department on all issues related to the County Health Department and its programs.