September 9, 2021
For Immediate Release
Jefferson County Public Health
(360) 385-9400
Port Townsend - Jefferson County Public Health is honored to welcome Apple Martine, BSN RN as its new Public Health Director. For nearly 10 years, Martine has been a nurse in public health, more recently overseeing many community and family health programs as well as COVID-response as the Division Director at JCPH for nearly 3 years.
While at JCPH as Community Health Division Director, Martine supported the success of many programs across the Clinical Services, Family Health Services, and Communicable Disease Teams. She is responsible for administering, planning, organizing, directing, and evaluating Community Health Division programs, services, and policies at JCPH. For the past year, Martine has proven that she is a valuable asset to the community in her crisis-response role throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Martine began her nursing career in Pierce and Thurston County Health Departments, where she dedicated her time to Maternal Child Health programs focused on prevention and health promotion in communities and through home visiting services. She became a Nurse-Family Partnership Nurse Home Visitor where she nurtured long-term therapeutic relationships with clients and brokered partnerships with rural underserved communities. She also served as a Regional Care Facilitator for the Pediatric-Transforming Clinic Practice Initiative through the WA State Department of Health. In 2018, Martine was brought on as the Director of the Community Health Division at JCPH.
Along with her top priorities in planning, organizing, directing, and evaluating daily operations at Jefferson County Public Health, Martine will collaborate across JCPH divisions, county departments, and community partnerships throughout Jefferson County. Her goal is to support programming and collaborations that protect and enhance the health of Jefferson County residents.
Vicki Kirkpatrick, current Public Health Director, will be retiring on September 10th, and is confident that Martine will successfully lead JCPH through the pandemic and for many years to come. Kirkpatrick says, “Apple has done a remarkable job in juggling multiple priorities while still keeping her finger on the pulse of her division to ensure ongoing support for the important programs that the community expects from JCPH – programs that provide services directly to the residents of Jefferson County. All the while she also served as a central point person, support person, and decision-maker in the health department’s response to the global pandemic we are experiencing. I have absolute faith that Apple will lead this health department now and into the future to improve the public’s health, to protect the public’s health, and to reduce the impact of disease on the people of Jefferson County.”
Martine will begin her duties on Monday, September 13th.
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Jefferson County Public Health
Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Community