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News
Allamakee
County Health Rankings Show Success to Build Upon
Posted 2 March
2010
A new report from the University of Wisconsin Population Health
Institute ranks Allamakee County, 20 out of Iowa’s 99 counties. Health
Outcomes are the primary ranking used to rank the overall health of
counties. The County Health Rankings were developed through a
grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“Allamakee County welcomes these rankings as an opportunity to
recognize and build upon our successes,” said Lisa Moose, Veterans
Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care Public Health Director.
“However, there is always room for improvement. Public health is a
journey that presents new challenges every day. Our goal is
continually improve the health of our county.”
The rankings were compiled by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation by
taking into account a wide range of health factors, including:
- healthy behaviors
(avoiding tobacco use, healthy diet, adequate exercise, etc.)
- clinical care (how
easy it is to find a health care provider, quality of care).
- social and economic
factors (education, income, community safety, etc.).
- physical environment
(clean water and air, community infrastructure).
These rankings do not
present a complete picture of what Iowa counties, including Allamakee
County have accomplished, but they do illustrate the positive efforts
made toward improving the health of Allamakee County. Allamakee
County intends to use these rankings to address those gaps.
“While we know these rankings are only a snapshot in time and not a
complete picture of Allamakee County’s health, we take them seriously,”
said Moose. “We’ll use the rankings in conjunction with other community
health assessments and planning efforts to find the best ways to build
on our successes and address our challenges.”
Allamakee County successes that were identified in the rankings include
the following: 1) Mortality rank is based on a measure of
premature death or years of potential life lost prior to age
75—Allamakee County ranked 33 of 99 in mortality. 2) Morbidity
rank is based on measures that represent health related quality of life
and birth outcomes including self reported fair or poor health, poor
physical health days, poor mental health days and the percent of births
with low weight—Allamakee county ranked 15 of 99 in morbidity. 3)
Allamakee County also ranked 57% in access to healthy foods and
continues to be a participant in the Food and Fitness Initiative.
The Food and Fitness Initiative is a 5 county coalition to create
vibrant communities where food and fitness is important to where we
live, learn, work and play and affects our quality of life. The
goal remains to plan, implement and sustain an environment that
promotes healthy eating and physical activity.
Opportunities for improvement identified in Allamakee County’s health
ranking include these four areas: health behaviors, health factors,
clinical care and social and economic factors. Health factors are
based on a variety of health behaviors including smoking, diet,
exercise, alcohol use and risky sex behavior. Clinical care is
based on measures of access to care and quality of care. Social and
economic factors measure education, employment, income, family and
social support and community safety.
“Both our successes and opportunities show the need for ongoing
investment in public health,” said Moose. “We will continue to work
with stakeholders in our county to form public and private partnerships
to improve the health of all residents.”
Allamakee County, not unlike many other areas in our state, is
experiencing economic hardships and therefore the uninsured and
underinsured population have increased. The cost of medical care has
become a hard burden to bear for many families. The information
gathered in this county health ranking tool will be used in our ongoing
community health needs assessment.
“Despite factors such as unemployment and a higher than average number
of people without health insurance, we ranked 20th out of the 99
counties,” states Mike Myers, Veterans Memorial Hospital
administrator. “This is a tribute to the quality of care that
patients receive from the health care team in Allamakee County.”
For more information about the County Health Rankings, visit http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/.
For information about public health in Allamakee County, visit here or call them
at 563-568-5660.
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