As a nursing home administrator in Washington state, licensed since 1979 and concerned about the condition of and the political fronts that public health has weathered and is now facing, I read Jane C. Hu’s article with interest (“The Public Health Officer Emergency,” October 2021).

The political infusion of right-wing folks who are abandoning science and reality in the face of knowledge, history and practice is increasingly scary and medieval. To deny facts and defame those who work to keep our society and environment in good health is an indication of poorly educated and frustrated citizens.

Ralph K. Allen Jr.
Nine Mile Falls, Washington

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The Public Health Officer Emergency

by Ralph K. Allen Jr., High Country News
December 1, 2021

<h1>The Public Health Officer Emergency</h1> <p class="byline">by Ralph K. Allen Jr., High Country News <br />December 1, 2021</p> <p><span class="s1"></span><span class="s2">As a nursing home administrator in Washington state, licensed since 1979 and concerned about the condition of and the political fronts that public health has weathered and is now facing, I read Jane C. Hu’s article with interest (“<a href="https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53.10/north-extremism-when-public-health-becomes-the-public-enemy-community" target="_blank" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53.10/north-extremism-when-public-health-becomes-the-public-enemy-community" rel="noopener">The Public Health Officer Emergency</a>,” October 2021).</span></p> <p><span class="s2">The political infusion of right-wing folks who are abandoning science and reality in the face of knowledge, history and practice is increasingly scary and medieval. To deny facts and defame those who work to keep our society and environment in good health is an indication of poorly educated and frustrated citizens.</span></p> <p><em><span class="s2">Ralph K. Allen Jr.<br /></span><span class="s2">Nine Mile Falls, Washington</span></em></p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=187861">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">The Public Health Officer Emergency</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53-12/letter-to-the-editor-the-public-health-officer-emergency-2/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=121131&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/53-12/letter-to-the-editor-the-public-health-officer-emergency-2/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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