Washington, California, Hawaii, and Oregon to launch new West Coast Health Alliance to uphold scientific integrity in public health

Alliance governors
Top: Gavin Newsom - CA; Bob Ferguson - WA
Lower: Tina Kotek - OR; Josh Green, MD - HI

In response to recent federal actions that have undermined the independence of the CDC and raised concerns about the politicization of science, Washington, California, Hawaii, and Oregon are beginning the process to provide evidence-based unified recommendations to their residents regarding who should receive immunizations and to help ensure the public has access and credible information for confidence in vaccine safety and efficacy.

Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek announced they will launch a new West Coast Health Alliance to ensure residents remain protected by science, not politics. 

The alliance represents a unified regional response to the Trump Administration’s destruction of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) credibility and scientific integrity.

On Thursday, September 4, 2025 they were joined by the state of Hawaii.

Joint statement from Governors Newsom, Kotek, and Ferguson: 

“President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people. 

"The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”

Governor Josh Green, M.D. of Hawaii stated:

“Hawaii is proud to stand with our West Coast partners to ensure public health decisions are grounded in science, not politics. As an island state, we understand how critical it is to protect our communities from preventable disease. By joining the West Coast Health Alliance, we’re giving Hawaii’s people the same consistent, evidence-based guidance they can trust to keep their families and neighbors safe. 

"Using science as our guiding star, Hawaii had the highest vaccination rate and lowest mortality rate of virtually any other state or region across the globe,” said Green, an emergency room physician who became Governor in 2022. “This approach is critical as we all go forward into an era with severe threats from infectious diseases.”

Dennis Worsham, Secretary of Health, Washington State Department of Health:

“When federal agencies abandon evidence-based recommendations in favor of ideology, we cannot continue down that same path.

"Washington State will not compromise when it comes to our values: science drives our public health policy.

"Public health at its core is about prevention — preventing illness, preventing the spread of disease, and preventing early, avoidable deaths.

"We stand firmly with trusted medical professionals and organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as fellow West Coast health agencies — whose guidance remains rooted in rigorous research and clinical expertise.

"Our commitment is to the health and safety of our communities, protecting lives through prevention, and not yielding to unsubstantiated theories that dismiss decades of proven public health practice.”

Details about this new Alliance

The Alliance will help safeguard scientific expertise by ensuring that public health policies in California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington are informed by trusted scientists, clinicians, and other public health leaders. 

Through this partnership, the four states will start coordinating health guidelines by aligning immunization recommendations informed by respected national medical organizations. This will allow residents to receive consistent, science-based recommendations they can rely on — regardless of shifting federal actions.

In the coming weeks, the Alliance will finalize shared principles to strengthen public confidence in vaccines and in public health.

CDC’s dismantling

Since its founding, the CDC has been central to protecting Americans from disease. But recent leadership changes, reduced transparency, and the sidelining of long-trusted advisory bodies have impaired the agency’s capacity to prepare the nation for respiratory virus season and other public health challenges. 

In a vacuum of clear, evidence-based vaccine guidance, manufacturers lack reliable information to plan production, health care providers struggle to provide consistent plans of care, and families face uncertainty about access and coverage.

In June, California, Oregon, and Washington condemned Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s removal of all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to science-driven decision-making. 

We will continue to provide clear, evidence-based guidance to people living in our states, look to scientific experts in trusted medical professional organizations for recommendations, and work with public health leaders across the country to ensure all Americans are protected. 

The absence of consistent, science-based federal leadership poses a direct threat to our nation’s health security. To protect the health of our communities, the West Coast Health Alliance will continue to ensure that our public health strategies are based on best available science.