Latest news from Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department

This list of curated articles highlights funding cuts, leadership updates, and the launch of new healthcare initiatives at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Federal funding cuts force local health officials to reimagine services. A street medicine pilot program intended to deliver healthcare to the homeless was delayed over staffing and organizational hurdles. Meanwhile, a national push against diversity initiatives affected a local teen mental health program.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 Friday, March 6, 2020. By Drew Perine

NO. 1: FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS HAVE PIERCE COUNTY HEALTH OFFICIALS ‘REIMAGINING’ SERVICES

Wildfire program takes hit with funding loss, while the future of pregnancy-data collection for high-risk patients now in doubt. | Published April 3, 2025 | Read Full Story by Debbie Cockrell

Chantell Harmon Reed has been tapped as the new director of public health for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

NO. 2: HEALTH DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR UNDER FIRE FOR ALLEGED TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT

The Tacoma-Pierce County public health director has been in her role for about a year. | Published April 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Becca Most

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NO. 3: TAX HAS RAISED $60M FOR PIERCE COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH. HOW’S IT BEING SPENT?

By 2026, the county plans to make $57 million in investments in multiple programs. | Published April 24, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard

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A homeless encampment partially blocks the sidewalk along 96th Street east of Hosmer Street in Tacoma, Washington, on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2024. By Tony Overman

NO. 4: IT’S SUPPOSED TO BRING MEDICAL CARE TO THE HOMELESS. WHY ISN’T IT OPERATIONAL?

At least one advocate worries about the direction the $1 million program is headed. | Published May 7, 2025 | Read Full Story by Cameron Sheppard

Carlyn Sampson, the executive director of the Rebuilding Hope sexual assault center in Tacoma, speaks out about changes to the national Teen Mental Health First Aid guidance on June 6, 2025. By Becca Most

NO. 5: TRUMP’S ANTI-DEI PUSH ‘POLITICIZES’ PIERCE COUNTY TEEN MENTAL HEALTH GUIDANCE

The curricula changes could undermine the program’s success at a time when rates of anxiety, depression, suicide and violence are rising among youth. | Published June 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Becca Most

Chantell Harmon Reed was selected as the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s public health director in March 2024.

NO. 6: TACOMA-PIERCE COUNTY HEALTH DIRECTOR TO GET ‘EXECUTIVE COACHING SERVICES’

The move comes after employee unions made allegations about bullying, unethical behavior and a toxic work environment under Chantell Harmon Reed. | Published July 10, 2025 | Read Full Story by Becca Most

NO. 7: TACOMA HEALTH DEPT. SPENT $7K ON LAWYERS AFTER DIRECTOR ACCUSED OF BULLYING

Public records show that the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department spent $7,750 on attorney’s fees over four months associated with a complaint submitted to the TPCHD Board of Health that alleged its public health director created a hostile work environment. | Published September 24, 2025 | Read Full Story by Becca Most

Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Tacoma, Wash. By Brian Hayes

NO. 8: LAYOFFS COMING TO TACOMA-PIERCE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT AMID BUDGET REDUCTION

Anticipated cuts in federal and state funding have led to planned staff reductions at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. | Published November 21, 2025 | Read Full Story by Debbie Cockrell

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.