PORT ANGELES — Dr. Tom Locke will leave as public health officer for Clallam County on Jan. 31 to share the medical directorship of the Jamestown S’Klallam Family Health Clinic in Sequim.
“I’m stepping down from one three-day-a-week job for another three-day-a-week job,” Locke said Tuesday about the Clallam County post he has held for 25 years.
He will remain in the one-day-a-week post of public health officer for Jefferson County, a position he has held for 18 years.
At the Jamestown S’Klallam clinic, he will rotate duties with Drs. Larri Ann Mishko and Paul Cunningham, the current co-directors.
“I had to choose one or the other,” said Locke, who has worked for the past two years as the tribe’s public health and safety officer.
In all, he has worked for two decades with the Jamestown S’Klallam, including serving as the tribe’s medical director during the 1990s.
“I’m a familiar face down there,” he said.
Locke also was the founder of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s medical program in Port Angeles and spent several years with the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe.
He called the Jamestown S’Klallam “leaders as a tribal government in developing their own health guidelines,” having written their own tribal health code, which he will enforce.
“It’s an exciting opportunity,” said Locke, who submitted his formal resignation to the Clallam County Board of Health on Dec. 10.
“I knew that I would not end my career in this job,” he said about the Clallam County post.
“I came from the clinical sector, and it’s really exciting. I’ll actually get to see real patients. I really miss that.”
Private practice won’t eclipse his interest in public health, however.
“I’m in the camp that believes that public health and medical care are the separated-at-birth twins and they should be back together,” he said.
He will continue to “cross-cover” the duties of health officer among Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and San Juan counties, which have joined a sort of mutual aid agreement.
Locke said it presages a move toward regional public health care and related fields like chemical dependency and behavioral health.
Locke also serves as chair of the Board of Trustees of the Washington Dental Service Foundation and on a number of statewide health care advisory committees.
He has made his home in Clallam County since 1979 and will continue to do so.
The Clallam County Department of Human Resources will conduct recruitment of a new
health officer, and the Clallam County Board of Health will review the applications and conduct interviews.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com
