After four years of challenging work, the team members of the LWVWA’s “Public Hospital District Civics Education Project” have wrapped up the live outreach and presentation phase of their project.

The Public Hospital District Civics Education Project was approved by the membership at the 2021 LWVWA Convention. The purpose of the project is to educate League members, and the public, about the nature and operation of Washington’s Public Hospital Districts (PHD). As local, voter-approved governmental entities, PHDs are not well understood—but they offer tremendous opportunities for input from the public about their healthcare options.

Between the LWVWA’s 2021 Convention and 2024 Council the PHD Civics Ed Project team organized itself statewide; set performance goals; surveyed existing awareness of WA PHDs statewide; and developed educational materials corresponding to the needs it uncovered, as well as in the media forms preferred by those surveyed.  The team combined all the above work into its one-hour introductory webinar, “PHD 101,” and facilitated successful presentations to numerous League audiences across the state.

For those who were not able to attend a webinar—or would like to use it to continue educating members and the public on PHDs—a recording of a presentation and all of the project’s PHD-related materials can still be accessed here. These materials include:

1. A recording of the one-hour “PHD 101” webinar. The presentation introduces League members, and the public, to the Public Hospital Districts of Washington and how local PHDs might address identified gaps in healthcare.
   
   
2. The PHD Formation Toolkit, which offers a self-study guide and other resources for learning about how Washington’s PHDs are formed.

The PHD Civics Ed Project team is grateful to the LWVWA Board and Project Liaison Dee Ann Kline for their support of the project; to the LWVWA Foundation Board for its financial subsidy of the webinar production; to LWVWA member Susan Daniel for her superb narration of our webinar script; and to the LWVWA Administrative Director Amy Peloff for her helpful and timely technical support.

Additionally, Project Chair Nancy Field (LWV Clallam County) would like to recognize the hard work and tremendous collegial spirit of the League members who contributed their invaluable work during the project’s lifetime. Special thanks to Cynthia Stewart (LWV Tacoma/Pierce County), Jody Disney (LWV Thurston County), Mary Lynne Courtney (LWV Bellingham/Whatcom County), and Tricia Grantham (LWV Pullman/Whitman County).