About Us

• In October 2022 members of the community raised this question: "What might it take to form a Kitsap County Public Hospital District?" This is a community-created, governmental entity authorized by state law to deliver health services—including but not limited to acute hospital care—to district residents and others in the district's service area. At that time, AEH organized working groups to explore the possibility. 

• In June 2023, we hosted a free screening of the documentary, "American Hospitals: Healing a Broken System", attended by approximately 70 members of the community. This effort was followed by the development and implementation of a series of informal small gatherings for public education about Public Hospital Districts as well as listening interviews with healthcare providers, educators, business leaders, and others throughout Kitsap to hear their ideas related to most critical healthcare issues and how they might be addressed.

• In March 2024, the Healthcare System Challenges and Opportunities in Kitsap County, Washington report, commissioned by the Kitsap Public Health Board and written by the researchers at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health was released. One of the recommendations in this report is: 

“Within the next year, the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners, the Kitsap Public Health Board, and other relevant stakeholders should launch a formal commission to explore the feasibility of forming a public hospital district in Kitsap County.” (p. xi)