San Juan County ranked healthiest in state, Ferry County least healthiest

San Juan County is the healthiest in the state and Ferry County is the least, according to a new national study.

The study, which ranked the health of all counties in the country, was conducted by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

For the study, the researchers looked at how long people in a county lived and how healthy they were. They also looked at factors that affect health, such tobacco and alcohol use; access and quality of health care; education, income and employment; and community and environmental factors.

The study combined those elements to come up with two ranking categories: Health Outcomes (how healthy county residents were and how long the lived) and Health Factors, those elements that affect health that can be changed, such as smoking rates and access to care.

San Juan County was top ranked in both categories; Ferry County, in northeastern Washington, ranked last in both categories.

The top ten for Health Outcomes were:

1. San Juan
2. Douglas
3. Whitman
4. Kittitas
5. Island
6. King
7. Whatcom
8. Clark
9. Chelan
10. Snohomish

The top ten for Health Factors were:

1. San Juan
2. King
3. Whatcom
4. Kittitas
5. Walla Walla
6. Chelan
7. Snohomish
8. Jefferson
9. Thurston
10. Whitman

Of the state’s 38 counties, the bottom five for Health Outcomes were:

35 Asotin
36  Stevens
37 Mason
38 Okanogan
39 Ferry

And for Health Factors:

35 Okanogan
36 Cowlitz
37 Pacific
38 Grays Harbor
39 Ferry

To learn more:

• Read the full report.
• Read the report on Washington state.
• Visit the Puget Sound Health Alliance to learn about other health quality improvement initiatives in Washington state.

Tags: Health Policy

Category: Health-care Policy