THE NORTH OLYMPIC Peninsula is a moderately healthy place to live and would fare better in a national health ranking if more people quit smoking, shed some weight and broke out of poverty, a new analysis shows.
Jefferson County ranked No. 16 out of 39 counties in Washington for health outcomes in the County Health Rankings released Tuesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Clallam County ranked No. 25 for health outcomes, a bottom-line measurement based on length and quality of life.
The average life expectancy is 80.9 years in Jefferson County and 79.2 years in Clallam County, according to the data.
Jefferson County was No. 8 for health factors, a broad measurement that includes health behaviors like smoking and obesity, access to clinical care, social and economic factors like children in poverty and the physical environment like housing problems.
Clallam County was No. 24 for health factors in the 2019 rankings, available at www.countyhealthrankings.org.
“I think it is a good reminder of how social factors will affect people’s health,” Dr. Allison Berry Unthank, Clallam County health officer, said Friday.
“Access to affordable housing and access to good-paying jobs makes a difference.”
The County Health Rankings measure things that influence how well and how long a person lives, the authors say.
(Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
“Our homes are inextricably tied to our health,” said Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in a press release that accompanied the data.
“It’s unacceptable that so many individuals and families face barriers to health because of what they have to spend on housing. This leaves them with fewer dollars to keep their families healthy.”
San Juan County was No. 1 in the state for health outcomes in the 2019 rankings, followed by King, Snohomish, Island and Thurston counties.
Ferry County was the least healthy county in the state, according to the rankings, followed by Columbia, Pacific, Grays Harbor and Pend Oreille counties.
Jefferson County was No. 4 for health outcomes in 2017 and No. 5 last year before falling to No. 16.
“The drop is almost entirely driven by the premature death measure,” said Dr. Tom Locke, Jefferson County health officer.
“We looked into that a bit, and what accounts for that in Jefferson County this year compared to last year is there has been a relatively slight increase in deaths by heart disease and by accidents and by self-inflicted injuries.”
Locke said there was “no dramatic increase” in premature deaths but a “statistical blip” was enough to change the rankings.
“My conclusion is that it was probably a statistical variation rather than any kind of statistical trend,” Locke said after reviewing the data with the Jefferson County Board of Health on Thursday.
”The other measures showed Jefferson County kind of where it’s been in this ranking in previous years, relatively high in clinical care and health behavior measures.”
Clallam County has been ranked in the 20s for health outcomes in each of the last five years.
“We’re close to the lower end of the middle,” Unthank said.
“We’ve been there for the last few years. It looks like for the vast majority of outcomes, we’re pretty much at the state average, but the big places we differ are the areas around poverty.”
The rankings include search fields that show areas of strength and “areas to explore.”
Clallam County’s areas of weakness are children in poverty (26 percent), children in single-parent households (40 percent), unemployment (6.8 percent), high school graduation (81 percent), adult smoking (14 percent), adult obesity (27 percent) and injury deaths (101 per 100,000).
Clallam County areas of strength include primary care physicians (1,100 to 1), dentists (1,090 to 1), preventable hospital stays (2,056) and air pollution (5.8 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter).
Jefferson County’s areas of weakness include smoking (13 percent), adult obesity (29 percent), high school graduation (80 percent), unemployment (6.1 percent), children in poverty (21 percent) and injury deaths (99 per 100,000).
Jefferson County’s areas of strength include primary care physicians (1,150 to 1), mental health providers (300 to 1), preventable hospital stays (550) and air pollution (6.1 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter).
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
