Spokane regional health district workplace mental health and well-being assessment

Public health agencies protect and promote population health under conditions of chronic underfunding, political scrutiny, and high demand, creating a distinct set of stressors for their workforce; yet the mental health and well-being of the local governmental public health workforce remain less well characterized at the level of individual agencies, where actionable, domain-specific data are needed to guide organizational response. This study aimed to understand the workplace mental health and well-being (WP-MH&WB) of employees at the Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD), a local public health agency in Washington State. An online WP-MH&WB survey (the Augusta+ Scale) was distributed to SRHD employees in August and September 2025. A mixed-methods approach was adopted to analyze the data. A total of 216 employees responded to the survey, of whom 179 completed it. The average WP-MH&WB score was 83.4 ± 20.7 (score range: 22–110). Overall, 44.3% of respondents reported experiencing burnout, while 57.8% reported experiencing loneliness. Respondents reporting burnout scored about 23 points lower on the WP-MH&WB scale than those who did not; this difference was similar across age, gender, race, division, and work arrangement, with no significant interactions after adjustment for multiple testing. Logistic regression analysis revealed that a unit increase in the WP-MH&WB scale score was associated with an 8% decrease in odds of experiencing burnout (OR = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.89–0.95; p < 0.001). WP-MH&WB gaps varied across SRHD divisions, with the largest deficits in career advancement and workplace mattering, underscoring the need for targeted, domain-specific intervention. Applying a validated, framework-anchored instrument at the division level offers a replicable approach other local health agencies can use to identify and prioritize their own areas of greatest need.