Improving Grays Harbor County residents access to digital health resources

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 29, 2026

On Mondays in Oakville, Thursdays in Ocean Shores and Fridays in Westport, residents can drop in at their local fire stations and the Helm, respectively, to meet with a community health worker for assistance to access digital health resources. These drop-in visits are free through a Washington State Department of Health grant that Grays Harbor County Public Health was awarded earlier this year.

“The Washington State Department of Health sent out a notice in December or early January saying that they’re really interested in doing a short-term project with high impact and trying to bridge the digital divide in healthcare and health issues,” said Mike McNickle, director of Grays Harbor County Public Health.

McNickle was aware that residents had difficulty accessing digital health resources and proposed a pilot project to create hubs where residents could visit with a community health worker and receive assistance searching for resources. After a quick turnaround to submit a proposal, McNickle received notice in late February that the county was one of four health jurisdictions – the others were Kittitas, Island and King counties – awarded a grant. The award amount was $69,000, and “we are the only project that is providing internet-based health access to rural areas and including a weekly visit by a community health worker,” share McNickle.

When McNickle reached out to the fire chiefs to ask about their fire stations serving as hubs, he said they were both excited to participate.

“They think that this is a great step forward, and it’s going to be super helpful to try to connect people to health and health care information,” McNickle said.

Kimberly Vordahl, a certified medical assistant with Grays Harbor County Public Health, is the public face of the project when residents visit Oakville, Ocean Shores or Westport; on Monday, she was at Grays Harbor Fire District 1’s Station 1.

“The way we view this [project] is it gets this service into the smaller community and allows for our citizens to get more direct access, because right now there’s no clinic here,” Vordahl said. “They don’t have to drive to Elma, and this gets them in touch with those services they otherwise wouldn’t have.”

These services can include finding mental health providers, physicians, food assistance and housing assistance.

“When [April Bachtell, public health manager with Grays Harbor County Public Health] reached out to us and we heard the idea, we were all over it,” said Carlton Rhoades, fire chief for Grays Harbor Fire District 1. “Because outside of normal 911 calls, we deal with people coming and needing these services; now we have that connection. We jumped all over this opportunity.”

And although Rhoades needed to have the fire district commissioners officially sign off on the idea, “they were 100 percent on board,” he said.

In addition to providing help navigating online resources, Vordahl can also provide health services, such as blood pressure screenings and A1C testing, which can indicate prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes. As part of the visit, residents are being asked to fill out a survey and list other health services they may need.

Blood pressure screenings and A1C testing are being offered now, “because they’re more health related, but we’re looking to see what the survey data says about what are the things that the community would like to see,” McNickle said.

The drop-in hubs will be open through the end of June, which is when the grant ends. McNickle described this short-term pilot as an opportunity to get a feel for what his department can do better for some of the communities that they don’t have the most presence in.

“I always laugh because it used to be that the doctor went to you and then we got way away from that,” Rhoades said. “But we’re starting to go back to that because you need to go to these communities and provide these services.”

“I’m just excited to have this opportunity to help the people of Oakville, as cliche as that might sound,” said Vordahl. “I’m very much all about the community and helping. I’m super excited to hopefully put this into good use.”

Schedule of Digital Health Access Connection Opportunities

Oakville – Mondays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Station 1, 108 E Main St.

Ocean Shores – Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fire Department, 585 Point Brown Ave. NW

Westport – Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Helm, 203 S. Montesano St.