Interim Kitsap Public Health District health officer Dr. Herbie Duber and health administrator Yolanda Fong reported new funding for the Nurse-Family Partnership program as part of the KPHD board’s Dec. 2 meeting.

Nonprofit Healthy Start Kitsap, which supported the development and implementation of the Nurse-Family Partnership program, will receive $130,000 in funding from St. Michael Medical Center to support the program over the next few years, a hospital spokesperson said. Previously, in September, the board learned about the risk of federal funding cuts impacting the program.

The program connects nurses with people who are pregnant with their first baby and provides support until the child’s second birthday. The program aims to provide knowledge and support to a healthy pregnancy and baby, including nutrition, safe-sleep techniques and providing referrals to support services.

Duber also said KPHD is seeing an increase in flu activity, which is common for this time of year. In November, Duber said KPHD reported 22 vaccines were administered. He said a recent meeting for the Vaccine for Children Program was well attended by community members.

“There have been a number of concerns regarding access to some of the vaccines for children that our community members, particularly providers, have expressed who participate in that program, and we were able to collect that information and feed that back to the state Department of Health so that they understand some of the challenges that our community providers are having,” he said.

As of Nov. 24, the state DOH reports 12.3% of county residents are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines for the 2025-2026 season, and 23.3% of residents are up to date with influenza vaccines.

Duber said KPHD is also in the process of developing a health alert for health care providers to ask patients about risk factors including backyard flocks or working in an industry with exposure to birds or other animals that may be carriers adding; “we want to make sure that they look for compatible clinical presentations and understand some of the challenges with testing,” he said.

Fong said KPHD is in the recruiting phase for a permanent health officer, with four applicants going through interviews for a finalist to be selected early next year. The board also approved the 2026 budget at $17.8 million with approximately $2 million in reserves, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2026, per agency documents.