‘Flexible’ doctor is Benton Franklin Health District Board choice for new health officer

The Benton Franklin Health District Board voted this week to offer Dr. Aren Giske the vacant position of health officer for Benton and Franklin counties.

He would replace Dr. Amy Person, who guided the Tri-Cities area through the COVID-19 pandemic and then took a job in August as a regional medical officer for the Washington state Department of Health.

The health officer helps identify health needs of residents to develop district programs; establishes protocols for environmental health programs such as food safety; enforces state public health regulations; and provides information to area doctors and to the public.

The Benton and Franklin county commissioners, who make up the health district board interviewed two candidates in a portion of their board meeting Wednesday that was closed to the public, as allowed under Washington state law.

After what one board member described as a candid discussion, the vote to offer the job to Giske was unanimous.

The health officer job has been a three-quarters time position, but there has been interest in moving it to a full-time job.

The board picked the candidate who would be available to work full time.

The health district board also liked Giske’s “ability to be very, very flexible,” said Jason Zaccaria, administrator of the Tri-Cities-based health district, noting how frequently information and requirements changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Giske also appears able to deal with the political complexities of the Tri-Cities area, Zaccaria said.

Giske would be willing to step up if there are state mandates that do not apply well to Benton and Franklin counties and explain concerns to the Washington state Department of Health or Board of Health, Zaccaria said.

He was asked during the district board’s interview how he would handle an incident like COVID-19 pandemic.

He would guide the staff “the right way” and would rely on information from medical journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, and listen to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Zaccaria said.

Board members meshed well with him, as did senior health district staff and others who met with him to discuss the health needs of Benton and Franklin counties, Zaccaria said.

“We’re fortunate enough to have more than one applicant who is qualified apply for the position as we are coming out of COVID,” Zaccaria said.

Selected doctor’s experience

Giske, 42, lists his most recent job on LinkedIn as a medical director of MaineGeneral Workplace Health, which is the largest community occupational medicine program in the state of Maine.

He previously worked in Port Orchard, Wash., as an occupational medicine physician for Washington Permanente Medical Group for about five years starting in August 2016.

He received his doctor of medicine degree at the University of Vermont after receiving a master’s of occupational health at the University of Utah and a bachelor’s at Western Washington University.

He is certified in occupational environmental medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and as a medical examiner by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Giske’s license to practice medicine in Washington state expired this month and he will need to renew it.

Until a permanent health officer is in place, Dr. Larry Jecha, a former long-time health officer for the Tri-Cities, has been serving on a temporary basis.