- Home
- Government
- Boards and Commissions
- Community Health Advisory Board
Community Health Advisory Board
The Island County Community Health Advisory Board (CHAB) is the longest-standing board of its kind in Washington state. Members are appointed and act in an advisory capacity to Island County's Board of Health. They make recommendations to the board on matters concerning public health as authorized in the Engrossed Second House Bill 1152 (RCW 70.46.140).
Monthly CHAB Meetings
Meetings are at 1:00 PM on the first Thursday of every month. Join us in-person or via Zoom.
FEBRUARY - DECEMBER 2026 MEETING LINK:
- Join the meeting via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/91211380080?pwd=XXHjFRFskSI5bhvNpdqFKgY3hZSWmt.1
- Meeting ID: 912 1138 0080 / Passcode: 934637
- January 8th, 2026: 1 NE 6th Street, Coupeville (Admin Room 116)
- February 5th, 2026: 1 NE 6th Street, Coupeville (Commissioner's Hearing Room)
- March 5th, 2026: 1000 SE Regatta Dr, Oak Harbor (Library Meeting Rm HH 137)
- April 2nd, 2026: 121 N East Camano Drive, Camano Island (Conference Room 10)
- May 7th, 2026: 723 Camano Ave. Langley (South Whidbey Community Center)
- June 4th, 2026: 1 NE 6th Street, Coupeville (Commissioner's Hearing Room)
- July 2nd, 2026: TBD / Tentative
- August 6th, 2026: Oak Harbor - Location TBD
- September 3rd, 2026: 121 N East Camano Drive, Camano Island (Conference Room 10)
- October 1st, 2026: 723 Camano Ave. Langley (South Whidbey Community Center)
- November 5th, 2026: 1 NE 6th Street, Coupeville (Commissioner's Hearing Room)
- December 3rd, 2026: TBD / Tentative
The Island County Board of Health (BOH) selected its first 21-member Community Health Advisory Board (CHAB) on March 8, 1993. CHAB was established to provide a community forum to assess the community's health concerns and needs, prioritize and recommend policy to address those concerns, and to assure that such policies attend to the community's needs. CHAB was further charged to address concerns in any area affecting health - be it personal health, environmental health, poverty, homelessness, joblessness, abuse, or any other concern impacting community well-being - and to advise the local Board of Health of measures requiring BOH or other community action.
- Discuss ideas and issues that the board of health is not yet ready to formally consider.
- On behalf of the board of health, research new or controversial ideas, specific topics, and professional input.
- Help build consensus on difficult issues.
- Serve as an advisory for the community health assessment and improvement plan.
- Provide connections between the board of health and community.
- Dedicating at least four hours each month to CHAB and complete the required Open Government Training.
- Agendas are available approximately one week prior to the meetings.
- Minutes are available following approval by the board.
- View Agendas & Minutes
-
Michele Aguilar Kahrs, Co-Chair
Freeland
-
Melissa Frasch-Brown
Oak Harbor
-
Bob Uhrich
Camano Island
-
Heidi Beck
Oak Harbor
-
Alma Johnser
Oak Harbor
-
Nicole Rice
Oak Harbor
-
Marian Myszkowski
Langley
-
Chris Geiger
Coupeville
-
Nic Wildeman
Greenbank
-
Lauri Johnson-Grimm
Langley
Become a Member
If you are interested in helping develop policy for the Island County Board of Health and address health issues in our community, please attend a meeting and complete a CHAB member application. For an application, contact Taylor Lawson at T.Lawson@islandcountywa.gov or call 360-678-7936.
Equity Lies at the Center of Our Work
Advancing equity in the health department, across government, and/or with community partners requires mobilizing communities and government to advocate for action. Health equity asks people to recognize that entire groups of people cannot enjoy opportunities that others have come to expect because of the conditions created by current and historical decision-making. Moving toward a society committed to health equity means ensuring that everyone, regardless of race, neighborhood, or financial status, has fair and equal access to be as healthy as possible.
Our work is directed by RCW 70.46.140 and WAC 246-90-005 which states, the CHAB shall "...use a health equity framework to conduct, assess, and identify the community health needs of the jurisdiction, and review and recommend public health policies and priorities for the local health jurisdiction and advisory board to address community health needs."
“[Health equity] requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care …health equity means reducing and ultimately eliminating disparities in health and its determinants that adversely affect excluded or marginalized groups.”
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation