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Spokane Regional Health District ousts Administrative Officer Alicia Thompson

A sign welcomes visitors to the medication distribution area of the Spokane Regional Health District's new treatment and assistance center.
Brandon Hollingsworth, SPR News
A sign welcomes visitors to the medication distribution area of the Spokane Regional Health District's new treatment and assistance center.

The public health leader had been on paid administrative leave because of district concerns about her performance.

Dr. Alicia Thompson is no longer the administrative officer for the Spokane Regional Health District.

The Board of Health approved an employee separation agreement for Thompson at their meeting on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the SRHD said the district can’t comment on the agreement due to a mutual confidentiality clause.

According to a public records request, Thompson’s involuntary resignation took effect September 21.

She had been placed on paid administrative leave since August 28 due to the district’s concerns about her performance.

The board has appointed interim officers to serve in Thompson’s absence. They will be Ray Byrne, the division director of environmental public health, and Kim Kramarz, director of finance and controller.

SRHD will now start a recruitment process for a permanent replacement.

Eliza Billingham is a full-time news reporter for SPR. She earned her master’s degree in journalism from Boston University, where she was selected as a fellow with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to cover an illegal drug addiction treatment center in Hanoi, Vietnam. She’s spent her professional career in Spokane, covering everything from rent crises and ranching techniques to City Council and sober bartenders. Originally from the Chicago suburbs, she’s lived in Vietnam, Austria and Jerusalem and will always be a slow runner and a theology nerd.