Klamath County Shows Improvement in Health Rankings

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County health rankings: Klamath shows improvement

Once a year Klamath County receives a health report card that brings an awareness that we are far from honor roll status. Klamath has routinely performed in the bottom quarter of Oregon’s 36 counties, but there are areas of improvement in the 2017 County Health Rankings released today.

“In broad strokes, Klamath moved up a position from last at 36 in March 2017 to 35 in health outcomes and maintained at 33 for health behaviors,” said Courtney Vanbragt, director of Klamath County Public Health (KCPH).

Since 2011 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to provide state and county-level snapshots of a variety of factors influencing the lives of Americans. Klamath County has improved in a number of areas this year, but there is still work to be done.

A factor to consider in evaluating the 2017 County Health Rankings is the age of the data being analyzed. In some areas, such as low birth weight and teen births, statistics from 2010 to 2016 were evaluated to reach a value for the current rankings. It will be several years before a more accurate picture can develop. The most current data used in any ranking component is from 2016.

“When the data catches up to the current work being done across the county, by local agencies, I expect to see significant improvement in rankings over the next few years,” Vanbragt said.

Another important aspect to the rankings is that all 36 Oregon counties are working toward improving residents’ health. If one county shows marked improvement, it results in moving other counties down in the rankings.

Health outcomes include length of life and quality of life. Klamath ranked 29 for length and 36 for quality. Length is influenced by the number of premature deaths, which are defined as a death occurring before someone reaches the age 75. Quality includes the percentage of residents reporting poor or fair health, the number of reported poor physical health days, the number of poor mental health days, and the percentage of infants with low birthweight.

Health factors include health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment.

Klamath ranked 34 in health behaviors, which take into consideration factors such as adult smoking, adult obesity, food environment index, physical inactivity, access to exercise opportunities, excessive drinking, alcohol-impaired driving deaths, sexually transmitted infections, and teen births. Adult obesity grew from 30 to 31 percent, with the current rate drawn from 2014 data. Teen births, numbering 41, were nearly double the Oregon rate of 22.

Sexually transmitted infections grew by 16 cases from last year and have become a troubling trend since the first County Health Rankings in 2011. The inaugural number was 179 and is now 451 in the current 2017 rankings. Unfortunately, the current data is from 2015 and, based on local reportable data, cases grew in both 2016 and 2017.

“KCPH begins work this week with Jackson County Public Health to address communicable disease concerns, prioritizing sexually transmitted infections and youth immunization rates to reduce the incidence and spread of human papillomavirus (HPV),” Vanbragt said.

Clinical care fell to 23 from 22, but indicators showed improvement. Uninsured adults were 10 percent of the population, down from 13 percent. The ratio of patients to primary care physicians improved to 1,160:1, compared to 1,190:1. Access to dentists also improved, moving from 1,320:1 to 1,300:1. Mental health provision improved from 330:1 to 250:1. Diabetic and mammography screening remained the same, at 82 and 61 percent, respectively, while preventable hospital stays increased by two days to 38.

Social and economic factors moved up a rank to 29. However, the indicators remained stable overall. Those indicators include high school graduation rate, residents having attended some college, unemployment, children living in poverty, inadequate social support, income inequality, children living in single-parent households, number of social associations, violent crime rate, and injury deaths.

The physical environment improved to 16 from 21, with the most significant difference being the lack of drinking water violations. In addition to the drinking water statistic, other factors in this area are air pollution particulate matter days, severe housing problems, driving alone to work, and a long commute driven alone.

“I’m confident that ongoing improvement initiatives with community partners – including Klamath Basin Behavioral Health, Sky Lakes Medical Center, Klamath Open Door Family Practice, Cascade Health Alliance, Klamath Tribal Health and Family Services, and Blue Zones Project – will move the needle on Klamath County’s ranking in the future,” Vanbragt said.

She also noted, “We are, as a partner agency, looking forward to hosting the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s site visitors for the Culture of Health Prize.” Klamath County is one of ten finalists nationwide for the honor.

To see the current rankings for Klamath and other counties, visit countyhealthrankings.org.

Klamath compared to other counties

It’s been said that there are commonalities between Coos, Douglas, Klamath and Union counties, as they each had thriving timber economies and have had to rebuild both social and economic infrastructures. Here the four counties’ rankings are compared and a quick analysis looks like Klamath County Public Health could benefit from learning more about Union County’s work to improve health factors and outcomes.

Health outcomes

  • Coos: 30
  • Douglas: 32
  • Klamath: 35
  • Union: 24

Length of life

  • Coos: 30
  • Douglas: 35
  • Klamath: 29
  • Union: 20

Quality of life

  • Coos: 26
  • Douglas: 25
  • Klamath: 36
  • Union: 29

Health factors

  • Coos: 34
  • Douglas: 26
  • Klamath: 33
  • Union: 15

Health behaviors

  • Coos: 33
  • Douglas: 17
  • Klamath: 34
  • Union: 31

Clinical care

  • Coos: 20
  • Douglas: 10
  • Klamath: 23
  • Union: 16

Social and economic factors

  • Coos: 35
  • Douglas: 28
  • Klamath: 29
  • Union: 12

Physical environment

  • Coos: 18
  • Douglas: 22
  • Klamath: 16
  • Union: 8

Press release from Klamath County Public Health.