Council approves health district donation

The Electric City council this month approved donating $2 per resident, roughly $2,000, to the Grant County Health District, but not before some discussion. 

At their Dec. 8 council meeting, Mayor Diane Kohout read a report from Brad Parrish, who is the representative for northern Grant County on the GCHD Board of Directors. and is also a commissioner for Hospital District 6, which runs Coulee Medical Center. 

Parrish’s report starts by saying the GCHD can use all donations they get, but went on to say he thinks the city’s donation should come with the insistence of receiving more services locally.

“We are offered a mere pittance of what is offered to Moses Lake, Ephrata or Quincy,” the report says. “There are programs that we should also be entitled to that we are not.”

Parish’s report said that getting NARCAN for the local police department has not happened, although he has tried. NARCAN is a drug for treating opioid overdoses. He has also advocated for needle exchange programs.

GCHD not having COVID testing done in the northern part of the county is another concern Parrish raised, saying it “would be nice to have at least one health department free test here.” 

Okanogan County Public Health has arranged for public testing in the local area at least twice.

GCHD does provide health inspections at restaurants here, the report notes. 

When he brought up his concerns to the GCHD board of directors, Parrish said, their response was that the northern part of the county, including Coulee City, Electric City, and Grand Coulee, was so far away from the middle of the county that it was inconvenient for travel.

His report suggests putting a firm stipulation on the donation that the city wants more services in the area. 

When it came time to vote, Councilmember Bob Rupe said he didn’t want to donate anything at all to the health district, but ultimately the council voted to donate the usual $2 per resident.

Mayor Diane Kohout said she would include a cover letter with the donation addressing their concerns.