Allen Co. in top third health rankings

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A new study ranks Indiana's 92 counties according to their overall health. The first-of-its-kind study ranked each county in each state, but the study's not designed to compare state to state.

"It's a call to action to go through this carefully as a community," Dr. Deb McMahan, Allen County's Health Commissioner, said. "We're pleased we're not in the bottom, but we have some work to do."

Overall health rankings were determined by the rate of people dying before age 75, the percent of people who reported being in fair or poor health, the number of days people reported being in poor physical and poor mental health and the rate of low-birthweight infants.

Allen County ranked 33rd out of the 92 counties. Here are how the other northeast Indiana counties ranked:

Steuben: 32
LaGrange: 5
Noble: 37
DeKalb: 9
Whitley: 7
Huntington: 29
Wells: 10
Adams: 15

Hamilton County near Indianapolis was the number one Indiana county and Scott County in southern Indiana was ranked last.

Ohio's counties were ranked within that state as well. Here's how some of the northwest Ohio counties ranked: 

Williams: 23
Defiance: 26
Paulding: 27
Van Wert: 35
Mercer: 12

Delaware County in central Ohio was ranked number one and Lawrence County in southern Ohio was ranked last at number 88.

Each county also received a ranking for health factors. Allen County was 39th in the state overall. Here's how the county ranked for the categories within the overall health factors group.

In health behaviors, which includes adult smoking, adult obesity, alcohol use, teen births and Chlamydia rate, Allen County ranked 53rd. 

In clinical care, which includes access to care, uninsured adults, number of primary care providers, the number of preventable hospital stays, diabetic screenings and hospice use, Allen County ranked 10th.

"We have a diverse population. We have urban problems, rural problems, foreign born problems, the indigent, the uninsured. We have have a lot of people with different sets of problems. To get an overall score of ten managing the diverse population and at a time when so many people are uninsured, reflects well on [the hospitals]," McMahan said.

Allen County ranked 52nd for social and economic factors, which include high school graduation rates, college graduates, unemployment rates, children in poverty, income inequality, single parent households, and violent crime.

Allen County's lowest ranking was 88th for the physical environment with looks at unhealthy air due to ozone, particulate matter in the air, access to healthy foods and the number of liquor stores.

"The decision to be healthy is one we make several times a day and the more we are surrounded by businesses and agencies and companies that support you to make those good choices, the healthier you're going to be," McMahan said. "There's no question healthy people do better at everything."

State Health Commissioner Dr. Judy Monroe said these rankings provide an opportunity for come counties to grow.

"From a state perspective, we need to look at some counties and see what they are doing right and see if they have programs or policies that are working," Dr. Monroe said.

She added that if there are successful models in some counties, those can be translated to other counties that are struggling in those areas.

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation conducted the report. There is funding to do rankings for the next three years, but Dr. Monroe said success should not be measured by those new rankings.

This report is based on 2006 data, the most current available. That means the 2011 report will be based on 2007 data, the 2012 based on 2008 data and so on. Any programs implements now based on the 2010 rankings won't be reflected in the next few reports.

Monroe said instead, progress should be measured by counties' plans and efforts to make improvements.