Public Health Academic Learning Collaborative (WA PHALCO)

About Us

The Washington State Public Health Academic Learning Collaborative (WA PHALCO) is comprised of higher education partners in Washington State supporting academic programming in or related to public health.

WA PHALCO collaborates with practitioners in governmental public health, community-based organizations, and other key partners, to address established and emerging public health workforce needs.

Steering Committee

The WA PHALCO Steering Committee develops strategies and initiatives to assure robust and responsive academic preparation of public health and public health-related higher education graduates for the Washington State public health workforce.

Steering Committee members currently include:

Co-Chairs

• Carrie Evans, Academic Affairs Director, Office of Strategic Partnerships, state Department of Health
• Elizabeth (Liz) Kirk, Associate Dean for Education, and Teaching Professor, Epidemiology, and Food Systems, Nutrition & Health Program, School of Public Health, University of Washington

Members

• Tishra Beeson, Chair, Department of Health Sciences, and Associate Professor of Public Health, Central Washington University
• Betty Bekemeier, Director, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, School of Public Health, and Professor, School of Nursing, University of Washington
• Dan Ferguson, Director Washington State Allied Health Center of Excellence, Yakima Valley College
• Jeff Ketchel, Director, Foundational Public Health Services, Office of Policy, Planning & Evaluation, state Department of Health
• Gayle Shimokura, Faculty Director of Public Health, and Associate Professor, Public Health, Lake Washington Institute of Technology
• Patti Stauffer, Director, Health Sciences Public Policy and Advocacy, Office of External Affairs and Government Relations, Washington State University
• Tracey Thomas, Workforce Development Manager, Washington State Association of Local Public Health Officials (WSALPHO)

Contact Us

Academic partners and public health practitioners interested in learning more about WA PHALCO, or about academic partnership opportunities with the state Department of Health, are welcome to contact the Academic Partnerships team in DOH's Office of Strategic Partnerships: AcademicAffairs@doh.wa.gov