Catawba County residents are healthier than their neighbors, according to a report released this week.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released a report that takes a look at the health of counties in all 50 states.
In North Carolina, Catawba ranked 18th in health outcomes and 27th in health behaviors. Other counties in the area didn’t fare so well. Burke County had the worst ranking among those counties in the Greater Hickory area. Burke’s overall ranking was 63 for health outcomes and 51 in health behaviors; Caldwell County ranked 54 in health outcomes and 55 in health behaviors; Alexander ranked 56 in health outcomes and 41 in health behaviors, according to the report.
The study measures health quality, ranking counties by categories including the rate of people dying before age 75, high school graduation rates, access to healthier foods, rates of smoking, obesity and teen births. The report has information on programs and policies counties and agencies can implement or provide to help improve the problem. For instance, the report suggests expanding early childhood development programs or offer mentoring programs to improve high school graduation rates.
One target of the report was smoking rates.
Catawba is the lowest in the region at 21 percent, followed by Alexander at 22 percent, Caldwell at 26 percent and Burke at 29 percent. Caldwell County has more adults who are obese — 31 percent — than Catawba and Burke, both at 27 percent, and Alexander at 29 percent.
Smoking, which can cause cancer and contribute to heart disease, is an area where there has been some improvement because of education and programs that target the problem, said Doug Urland, director of public health for Catawba County. Urland said the county offers smoking cessation classes and public health works with youth groups to make kids aware and educate them on the dangers of smoking.
Catawba ranked 12th for clinical care, which includes areas such as uninsured adults, primary care providers, preventable hospital stays, diabetic screening and mammography screening. Catawba has more primary care providers per resident than Burke, Caldwell and Alexander counties. It also has fewer preventable hospital stays than the other three counties, the report says.
Dr. Chris Hunt, chairman of the board of directors for Frye Regional Medical Center, is committed to providing county residents with quality care.
“Joined by our larger medical community, the county’s ranking is an indication of how fortunate we are to have well-trained physicians and other practitioners,” Hunt said. “Their expertise, the screenings and education our hospital provides, and the quality standards by which our hospital and practitioners abide, all make a difference in empowering our citizens to make the best possible healthcare decisions.”
According to the report, Caldwell County has fewer uninsured adults than the other counties.
“The County Health Rankings complement our Community Health Assessment and annual State of the County Health Reports as another way for us to measure important health indicators in our community,” said Urland. “While not every health issue is included in the study, it helps inform our evaluation of our county’s health priorities.”
Urland said the county is doing its own health assessment that’s due out in December. He said the county will use the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute report when it does its own assessment.
To see the report online, go to www.countyhealthrankings.org.
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