Whatcom should have a full-sized Public Hospital District (PHD)
We are worth it. Whatcom County residents deserve a hospital district that works more closely in tune with the people. It may be a long term project but we can build momentum. There is one right next door in Skagit, why not more? There is one being advocated for in Kitsap county, we ought to take note!
Rome wasn't built in a day. If you plan for Whatcom's future, plan for a Public Hospital District.
Any implementation of a Public Hospital District (PHD) must be wide open for discussion and analysis. Would we eventually get a hospital but start out with Clinics? what about other services? It would be a subject of democratic processes and governance. It would be ours.
Learn more recent news and background
News
May 2026 Public Hospital Districts by LWV of Bellingham-Whatcom County. This is a 1hr 32 minute video discussion with lots of great detail.
1:27:00 long video titled "Expanding possibilities in healthcare" hosted by the Bellingham City Club
Cascadia Daily News Article March 2026: Effort gains momentum
A post sponsored by PeaceHealth about the history of hospitals in the area.
A video about Public Hospital Districts by the Association of WA Public Hospital Districts.
A video titled #Gov101: Public Hospital Districts by the Washington State Auditor’s Office.
An article "What do you know about Public Hospital Districts?" by the Salish Current
Learn more policy and evidence
Resources
2018 Whatcom County Community Health Assessment*
*(NOTE: the next Community Health Assessment is underway. It will be an 18-24 month process. The process began this spring. The Whatcom County Health and Community Services department and Whatcom County Public Health Advisory Board are involved in this work)
Whatcom County Community Health Improvement Plan 2022-26
Whatcom Community Health Insights
PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment
Aging Well Whatcom 2022 Blueprint
Whatcom Racial Equity Commission - Racial Disparities in Whatcom County
Mount Baker / East Whatcom Health Equity Zone initiative has a number of documents detailing health needs in East Whatcom County:
We don't have a public hospital?
Except for the Point Roberts Public Hospital District we do not. We primarily have PeaceHealth which is described as a private and religious institution.
Also, some residents in the far east area of the county in voter precint 178 are part of hospital district 304 based out of Skagit County.
What kind of hospital do you mean?
More specifically a Public Hospital District. This could take many forms in practice.
There are a few possibilities for better healthcare:
- A series of clinics, such as one in the rural county and one in Bellingham
- Any variety of services the county wants
- The foundation for a future hospital
Healthcare is a big topic politically, where do I start to learn about this?
Start, by considering the irreducible nature of hazard:
All of the interesting systems (e.g. transportation, healthcare, power generation) are inherently and unavoidably hazardous by their own nature. The frequency of hazard exposure can sometimes be changed but the processes involved in the system are themselves intrinsically and irreducibly hazardous. It is the presence of these hazards that drives the creation of defenses against hazard that characterize these systems.
Who else has advocated for a Public Hospital District in Whatcom County?
In September 2026, Whatcom Healthcare Alliance launched their website
In 2026 an organization called the Whatcom Healthcare Alliance began to take shape to advocate for the policy, yet to be launched
Jon Scanlon in a personal capacity advocated local control in Feb 2026
The Whatcom Democrats 2024/2025 include it as one item in their platform: "Support creation of a Public Hospital District to fund a public hospital and increase healthcare options in Whatcom County, which currently has only one hospital."
Whatcom DSA passed a resolution supporting the creation of a public hospital district Oct 10 2024
This website was first indexed in June 2024
Looking towards the future, inspiration from precedent
A Public Hospital District (PHD) is a method available under Washington State Law for the county to own and operate hospitals and other health care facilities or services for the residents of such districts and visitors.
We may not get a Hospital yet. But it is a pre-condition for that future in practical terms.
Note: hospitals and other health care facilities or services. A facility or service could start up before a hospital, while simultaneously preparing a foundation for a future potential hospital under a Public Hospital District.
Indeed, the Public Hospital District concept is not totally new in Washington State and comes from 1945. Just one county over in Skagit County are several Public Hospital Districts. Today, nearly one-half of Washington's 90 hospitals are part of public hospital districts.
Five commissioner districts, one district in Whatcom County to support strategy and systems
We are making some updates with comments on the Association of Washington PHD's Commissioner Resources. These are excellent introductions to the role of the commissioner which would be established by a Public Hospital District in Whatcom.
In the most recent projections in the event of a ballot victory there would be five commissioner districts to elect people as commissioners of the County.
Look for the people that can work together, are open about their goals and experience.
Good natured questions should be asked of anyone seeking to run for a potential comissioner position- working on a resource about this topic, linking some parts to the AWPHD. It is possible to find on the AWPHD website resources with important titles such as:
- Running for office? Or, are you a newly elected Public Hospital District Commissioner?
- Commissioner Role Summary
- Onboarding Commissioner Checklist
- 2026 AWPHD Commissioner Guide
- AWPHD Legal Manual
Editor's note: It is strongly considered advisable interested candidates consult these materials and become familiar with them, and take advantage of the AWPHD resources
Accounting for growth, change and need
Growth is another opportunity to shape the future of our county for the better. A Public Hospital District could adapt and augment to meet the needs of the county. Whatcom County is apparently "bracing for 30% population growth over 20 years" -- surely some of the growth can be accomodated for by a Public Hospital District rather than a monopoly.
A pro-active policy accounting for growth could help ensure care for our residents and visitors that is more independent. This would require broad public input and research but it would be worth it.
Join the Conversation
Visit WhatcomHealthcareAlliance.org
Get involved with the emerging Whatcom Healthcare Alliance (WHA)! Attend one of the monthly meetings run by that group through their contact form on their website: Whatcom Healthcare Alliance .org (Launched September 2026).
Tell me more about the performance and accessibility of the Whatcom Healthcare Alliance website, WhatcomHealthcareAlliance.org, what does this say about the focus of the organization?
The Whatcom Healthcare Alliance website is a masterclass in static website design, totalling under five megabytes in size compressed with all files included.
The website includes a detailed accessibility statement, outlining the steps taken to ensure accessibility.
Platforms the website has been tested with include:
- Lighthouse (locally, and remotely with Pagespeed Insights)
- Yellow Lab Tools (Desktop and Mobile)
- Axe DevTools
- Arc Toolkit
Conclusion: The Whatcom Healthcare Alliance has a very reputable and effective website.
Is there any connection between Whatcom Healthcare Alliance (WHA) established in 2026 and the former Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement (WAHA)?
No, they are distinct organizations with different membership but both are/were very interested in healthcare in Whatcom County. The Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement (WAHA) was a local nonprofit organization in Bellingham, Washington, that permanently closed operations in July 2019. As such, it is no longer in the current picture and association is by similar name only.
This website plans to send very rare emails
Accessibility Statement
Accessibility Statement for Whatcom Public Hospital
This is an accessibility statement from WhatcomPublicHospital.org.
Measures to support accessibility
WhatcomPublicHospital.org volunteers take the following measures to ensure accessibility of the website WhatcomPublicHospital.org:
- Include accessibility as part of our mission statement.
- Assign clear accessibility goals and responsibilities.
Conformance status
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Whatcom Public Hospital is assessed with WCAG 2.2 level AA. It has been assessed to partial conformance which means that the content has been evaluated as having no programmatic issues and some manual testing has occurred.
Technologies and tools used to assess this website include browser DevTools, Axe DevTools, Arc Toolkit, Mac VoiceOver and Playwright with Axe-core testing.
This content was reviewed by an experienced accessibility tester July 2025. The goal with the project is to match AA as much as possible and also incrementally meet some AAA criteria
Feedback
We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Whatcom Public Hospital. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on Whatcom Public Hospital:
We try to respond to feedback within 2 business days.
Date
This statement was created on July 30 2026 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool.