Slow start to replace Thorburn

A nationwide search for a new Spokane County health officer has not yet begun, but it will – soon – an official said.

Advertisements in medical, government and other industry journals and on Web sites are expected to begin running by Oct. 1, said Torney Smith, the Spokane Regional Health District’s administrator. That could put a new medical director in place by January, more than a year after Dr. Kim Thorburn was fired from the agency charged with overseeing the region’s public health.

That’s far longer than health district board members predicted it would take to replace Thorburn, whose contract was not renewed in November. Board chairwoman Mary Verner had said she would like to see the matter concluded by spring.

But Smith said Monday the process is on target.

“This is pretty much what I expected,” said Smith, who has been working with the Waters Consulting Group, a Dallas search firm with an affiliate in Seattle.

News of the delay, however, surprised Dr. Larry Jecha, the Benton-Franklin Health District officer who has been filling in since fall.

“They haven’t told me a thing,” he said Monday, joking: “Look, people, I would like to go back to my normal job.”

The advertisements are expected to call for a public health official who holds a medical degree and a master’s degree in public health, with at least five years’ experience in medicine and public health, plus at least a year as a local or state health officer with supervisory duties. The position will pay between $130,000 and $145,000 annually, up from the $125,000 paid to Thorburn, who was the agency’s health officer for nine years.

Within 60 to 90 days, candidates will be screened and evaluated to produce a field of finalists, Smith said. Taking interviews, selection and the upcoming holidays into account, the new health officer should be ready to begin by 2008, he said.

Operation of the health district has gone smoothly, despite the absence of a full-time medical director, said Smith, who has shouldered the agency’s administrative duties. The board approved a $600-a-month salary increase until the post is filled to compensate him for the extra time and effort.

“We haven’t skipped a beat,” said Smith.

The health district and the region have been fortunate not to face a difficult public health challenge in the past 10 months, Jecha said.

“It’s mainly maintenance,” he said. “I’m plugging holes.”

An outbreak of West Nile virus, for instance, is still possible and could highlight the gaps in Spokane’s system, he said. In addition, the community has been missing the kind of public health presence a full-time officer provides.

“I think your activity in the community slips,” he said. “You don’t have that voice.”