Kitsap Public Health District health officer Dr. Gib Morrow recently announced his resignation and anticipates serving through the end of July as the agency begins its transition plans to hire a replacement.
Morrow said he plans to remain working in his role through the rest of the month to assist the agency during the transitional period, and will stay as long as needed in the interim. KPHD administrator Yolanda Fong said the health agency will conduct an open public recruitment process to hire a new permanent health officer.
“I have accomplished what I committed and set out to do – successfully navigate the county through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, help strengthen the organization into what is considered one of the state’s premier public health agencies, and leave my camp a little better than I found it,” Morrow said in a statement.
“I love the place and the people and consider myself profoundly fortunate to have had this opportunity to work with the amazing people at KPHD and the incredible partners throughout the community,” he said. “This has been one of the best encore careers I guy like me could hope to have, and I am grateful to the people of Kitsap for their trust and support.”
Morrow has served in his current role since August of 2020. Prior to joining KPHD, he served as deputy health officer for Whatcom County Health Department, and practiced medicine at PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, per a press release. He also served as the deputy health officer for Sonoma County, CA.
He received his medical degree from the Duke University School of Medicine before completing an internal medicine residency and Master’s in public health from the University of Washington.
Morrow said he plans to take a month-long vacation to work on building a vacation compound in the Methow Valley. After his vacation, he plans to return to clinical work in a tribal clinic.
“I started my career after residency, practicing medicine on the Navajo Nation. I am looking forward to circling back to help honor our national obligation to the First Nations to provide quality health services in compensation for one of the biggest land grabs in human history,” he said.
