Snohomish County Health Department makes cuts to address $2M deficit

EVERETT — The Snohomish County Health Department told staff Tuesday it planned to eliminate 17 positions to bridge a nearly $2 million budget deficit, health officials confirmed to The Daily Herald.

Eleven of the 17 positions are either currently vacant or will be vacant, health department spokesperson Jeff Hodson said in an email to The Daily Herald on Wednesday. The six filled positions include a behavioral health specialist, business management analyst, disease intervention specialist, environmental health specialist, graphics designer and program assistant, he said.

The health department recently submitted its draft 2027-28 budget to County Executive Dave Somers for consideration. During that process, the department identified that it has an ongoing, long-term structural deficit, Snohomish County Health Department Director Kim Van Pelt said in an interview Wednesday. The deficit is caused by rising costs and funding cuts at the local, state and federal levels, she said.

“Because of all those things, we really argue that we needed to act sooner rather than later in terms of addressing our budget,” Van Pelt said. “We really felt like it was a financially responsible thing to do.”

https://www.heraldnet.com/2026/07/16/snohomish-county-health-department-makes-cuts-to-address-2m-deficit/