My patients span the socioeconomic spectrum: Some are well off, some are middle- or working-class, and some are experiencing homelessness. All of them benefit from public health investments. Whether they rely on vaccine information, restaurant health inspections, or the incredible free dental, vision, and health clinics Public Health-Seattle & King County offers, all my patients are healthier when they come to me because of these local investments.

So when I saw King County Executive Girmay Zahilay’s proposed budget cuts to the health department, I had serious questions about his priorities. Earlier this month, the Executive sent the King County Council a budget proposal that cuts approximately $2.8 million from the Department of Public Health while spending more than $18.7 million on his return-to-office proposal.

In the scheme of a county budget, $2.8 million could come across as budget dust. But as a nurse at Harborview who witnessed repeated cuts to public health care since the peak of the pandemic, and who is currently worried about the federal Medicaid cuts that will impact my patients, I want to see deeper investments in public health. Instead, for every dollar cut from public health, Executive Zahilay is proposing nearly seven dollars for office space.