Island County Names Interim Health Officer, Shares Skagit Official

Island County officials moved this week to stabilize leadership at the local health department by naming Skagit County Health Officer Dr. Howard Leibrand as interim health officer. The Board of Health made the appointment as the Board of County Commissioners approved a six month contract that pays Dr. Leibrand 175 dollars an hour and will not exceed 39,750 dollars in total.

Under county code the Board of County Commissioners is responsible for setting the salary of the health officer while the Board of Health appoints the person to the role. Public Health Director Keith Higman told commissioners they could either hire Dr. Leibrand as an employee or contract with him. Commissioners chose the contract option, which requires the doctor to carry liability insurance and provides for county reimbursement of that expense.

The appointment follows recent turnover at the top of Island County Public Health. On December 13 Dr. Joel McCullough notified the department that he would not renew his contract in the new year. The state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist served as the county health officer on a temporary basis before this interim appointment. With Dr. Leibrand taking the interim post, Island County will have had three different health officers within a month, a pattern that officials say they hope to end as they continue to recruit a permanent director.

State law designates the health officer as a medical doctor who acts under the direction of a board of health and who holds broad responsibilities for public health oversight. For Island County residents those responsibilities translate to leadership in communicable disease response, coordination with local clinics and hospitals, and oversight of prevention programs that serve vulnerable populations. The shared arrangement with Skagit County raises practical questions about capacity and competing priorities, particularly during seasonal respiratory illness and any emergent public health threats.

Smaller and rural counties often face constraints recruiting and retaining clinical public health leaders, and Island County leaders said they will continue to pursue a permanent hire. For now the contract is intended to provide continuity of leadership, maintain ongoing programs, and protect public health services while the county works to restore stable, long term local oversight.