VW County health ranking improves

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

While Van Wert County improved 12 places in this year in healthy living among Ohio’s 88 counties, according to a national study released last week, it has a way to go to equal three neighboring counties that scored near the top of the rankings.

The county rose from 39th in the 2011 survey to 27th in 2012, according to The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. That compares to Putnam County, which rose from sixth to fourth this year; Mercer County, which was up from eighth to sixth; and Auglaize County, which stayed in 10 place. Van Wert County’s southeastern neighbor, Allen County, ranked 42nd, up from 46th in 2011, while Paulding County fell from 25th last year to 48th in 2012. The healthiest county in the state was Delaware, while Pike County was ranked least healthy in Ohio.

Van Wert County Health Commissioner Dr. Paul Kalogerou said his department would be looking at the statistics to see what can be done to improve health conditions in the county. He also noted that he wants to collaborate with neighboring counties with high rankings on the survey to see if there is something they’re doing there that has led to the higher rankings.

Van Wert County was below the state average in premature deaths, although higher than the national benchmark. The county had fewer low birth weight babies (6.7 percent), compared to the state average of 8.6 percent, but was at or above the state average in poor or fair health (15 percent, the same as the state average), poor physical health days (4.0 percent, versus the state average of 3.6 percent), and poor mental health days (4.1 percent, versus 3.8 percent for the state).

Adult obesity in the county (35 percent) was higher than the state average (30 percent) and the national benchmark (25 percent), while the motor vehicle crash rate (15) was higher than either the state average or national benchmark (both at 12). Sexually transmitted infections were less than half the state average (177 versus 420), but still well over the national benchmark of 84. The county’s teen birth rate (38) was just under the state average of 40, but well over the national benchmark of 22.

A particularly troublesome area was the number of primary physicians versus the overall population. Van Wert County has only one physician for each 1,064 people, well below the state average of 859, and the national benchmark of 631 people for each physician.

“Although we are trying hard to recruit more physicians to the county, it’s hard to bring good doctors to the county,” Dr. Kalogerou noted, adding that he thought the figures on physical inactivity (25 percent) was also “bothersome.”

The new surveys’ results also correlate to a county health survey done by the Health Department, the health commissioner said, adding that the two studies would be reviewed in order to develop a strategic plan.

“The health rankings give us some numbers that will allow us to put together a strategic plan that will provide a foundation to improve health conditions,” Dr. Kalogerou said.

There were some positives in the ranking study, particularly in the area of social and economic factors. Of particular note was the county’s high school graduation rate of 90 percent, which places it among the top 10 percent in the state. The statewide high school graduation rate was 78 percent in 2012, although only about half of county residents have some college education, versus the state average of 60 percent and the national benchmark of 68 percent.

When the rankings study was done, unemployment was at 12.1 percent, higher than the state average of 10.1 percent and the national benchmark of 5.4 percent.

Surprisingly, there were three air pollution-particulate matter days in the county during the study period, versus the state average of two days. The national benchmark is having zero particulate-matter days.