County readies a 5-year community health plan
By Terry Murry on Monday, June 20th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories
UMATILLA COUNTY – Umatilla County Public Health has grown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Community Health Supervisor Morgan Linder said that will enable her team to be more responsive to health needs for residents.
“We have quite a bit more capacity to do some of that outreach and education than we did a couple of years ago,” she said. “Unfortunately, also because of the pandemic, some of that has gone on the back burner.”
Linder and her team are currently working on turning up the heat on a number of projects, all falling under the umbrella of a five-year community health improvement plan, which will soon be initiated. In addition to the plan, the community health team is also working to forge a working relationship with Community Counseling Services, the county’s new substance abuse and behavioral health agency.
“We don’t ever want people to feel like they can’t talk to us about something or that we’re trying to tell them what to do,” Linder said. “We just want people to have the resources and information to make their own decisions.”
