In 2009 the Public Health Advisory Council (PHAC) was established by Resolution 09-20 of the Board of Health. The purpose of the PHAC is to convene community partners to provide periodic advice to the Health District and to the Board of Health and to make recommendations relevant to improving the health of the citizens of Snohomish County. Members are appointed to the Council for staggered three-year terms and serve without compensation. Members are appointed by the Chair of the Board and confirmed by the full Board of Health.
The Tribes sector position was held by Alicia McQuen, Tulalip Community Health Department, from April 2019 – July 2019. Since then the sector has remained unfilled.
Kara Briggs, MPA, is a Sauk-Suiattle tribal citizen who lives on the Tulalip Reservation where her husband is enrolled. She has worked in tribal, state and federal government and in the regional media. She currently works in government relations for Sauk-Suiattle. She is deeply networked with tribes across Washington including the three/four tribes in Snohomish County and the urban Indian community. She is a former community representative to the Snohomish County Tomorrow Steering Committee, where she served one term. She is a former chair of the Center for Women and Democracy in Seattle, and the Native American Journalists Association. She wrote on federal Indian health policy in an award-winning column for Indian Country Today from 2005 to 2010. She is also a two-time survivor of breast cancer and an advocate for women's health as well as tribal health.
Chair Stephanie Wright has appointed Kara Briggs to fill the unexpired term from April 2021 through June 2021 and requests Board of Health confirmation.