El Paso, Doa Ana Counties Ranked On Health
A new survey out this week ranks nearly all the counties in the United States based on the health of their residents.
The County Health Rankings report is compiled by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Foundation President and CEO Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey said the report shows that, “Where you live, learn, work and play makes an incredible difference to your health.”
The report breaks rankings into two groups. One rank is based on health outcome and the other is based on health factors. Health outcome is made up of mortality, or how long people live, and morbidity, or how healthy people feel while they live. Health factors takes into account whether people are practicing unsafe sex, smoking, drinking, dieting and exercising, along with their employment, income, education and access to care, among other factors.
The second annual report is intended to give communities a roadmap to improve health. Leaders and community members can use those rankings to work together to develop programs and policies that address health factors.
Of the 223 counties in the state of Texas, El Paso is ranked 43 when based on health outcomes. But that number drops sharply when the ranking is based on health factors, dropping to 119. You can view Texas county rankings and the breakdown here.
In New Mexico, Doa Ana County rises to number 4 of 32 counties based on the health outcomes. Otero County ranks at number 6. The counties drop to 15 and 12 respectively when judged by the health factors. See New Mexico county rankings and the breakdown here.
