We were established by the Washington State Constitution in 1889 to serve the health and safety of the people living in Washington. Since the beginning of statehood, we have played a critical role in meeting our obligation of understanding and preventing disease across the entire state population. By providing leadership through rulemaking and policy development, and by offering a public forum tha
t enables the people of the state to help shape health policy, we work to provide statewide leadership in advancing policies that protect and improve the public's health. We are responsible for a wide range of health rules. These rules define a system that alert us to new disease threats, keeps our food and drinking water safe, and prevents and controls the spread of communicable diseases. We also recommend health policy and bring the public into the policy development process through public meetings and hearings, stakeholder engagement, and community outreach.
