Public Health – Seattle & King County
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1951 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Type | Public Health Department |
| Jurisdiction | King County, Washington |
| Headquarters | 401 5th Avenue, Seattle, Washington |
| Employees | 1385 |
| Annual budget | $ 318 Million |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | Government of King County Government of the City of Seattle |
| Website | www.kingcounty.gov/health |
Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) is the public health department that is jointly managed by the City of Seattle and King County governments serving approximately 2 million residents in King County, Washington State. Some of its services include King County Medic One, trans fat and menu-labeling regulation, online restaurant inspections, emergency preparedness, family planning and reproductive health services.
The Seattle City Council created the position of city Health Officer in 1877. The Health Officer had the responsibility to abate nuisances affecting the public health and to prevent the spread of contagious disease, especially smallpox. Between 1877 and 1890, ten different local doctors served in the role. In 1890, the city established a Department of Sanitation, under the direction of the Board of Health, which also authority to appoint a Health Officer. It was badly needed. That year "[t]here were so many cases of typhoid fever that the health officer could not investigate them all" and "hogs with cholera were being sold for human consumption." From 1891, there was also a Market Inspector, under the supervision of the Health Officer. An amended City Charter in 1908 replaced the Board of Health with a new Department of Health, with a Commissioner of Health appointed by the Mayor. At that time, problems were still quite severe: a federal government expert wrote, "Seldom have I seen worse conditions among dairies than in those here."
In 1915, Seattle could claim that its death rate, of 7.44 per thousand, was the lowest of any city of its size in the world. Still, in 1916 there were numerous cases of poisoning from bad chickens and fish. In that era, the department focused in large measure on quarantine for infectious diseases and had a special division to deal with tuberculosis, including a special tuberculosis hospital, Firland Tuberculosis Hospital (founded as Henry Sanatorium in 1911 by Seattle millionaire and philanthropist Horace Chapin Henry). (Appeared as "The Pines Sanatarium" in Betty MacDonald's THE PLAGUE & I. Health inspections were required for all people engaged in food preparation, as were general physicals for drivers of vehicles for hire. A child welfare division was empowered to inspect any home where children were being raised, and also could provide poor families with free milk. There was also a focus on preventing bubonic plague from entering through the city's port. The city also operated several free medical services, including a small emergency hospital for the indigent and free typhoid shots for anyone travelling out of the city to a region where typhoid might be encountered.
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