Media Release

This press release put out at the request of the Alachua County Health Department.

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL – The Florida Department of Health in Alachua County recognizes the value in measuring health outcomes and expresses appreciation to the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the fourth annual County Health Rankings & Roadmaps tool released today.

Click here to view the study, which uses traditional, established data, much of which was obtained from the DOH.

These rankings serve as a snapshot of the health of individuals across counties in each state. The report highlights that health is a combined work in progress across a variety of community partners. The Florida Department of Health (DOH), through its county health departments, works together to improve the health of all Floridians. The data used in these rankings are available in each state and include information related to physical environment, social and economic factors, health behaviors, education, crime rate/law enforcement and clinical care.

“The Florida Department of Health works every day to bring together community partners around shared goals to improve health,” said Dr. John Armstrong, Surgeon General and Secretary of Health. “As we track our progress, we are reminded there is no finish line in our efforts for better health.”

In Alachua County, there are areas of progress and continuing opportunity. For example, the percentage of adults who were unable to get medical care because of costs decreased from 23.2 percent in 2007 to 11.7 percent in 2010 due in part to the expanding outreach of the Department’s medical home safety net program with Shands UF, and numerous other community partners. Challenges remain for the larger community as the bacterial sexually transmitted infection rate in 15-24 year olds increased by 51 percent from 2001 to 2010. The Department has partnered with many stakeholders to implement the Community Health Improvement Plan which has focused efforts to address access to care and community wellness.

“The overall health in our community is impacted by numerous factors.  For this reason, Alachua County continues to invest time and resources in partnership with the Alachua County Health Department to provide services to our citizens to improve overall health.” said Richard Drummond, Alachua County Manager.

“Health goes beyond socio-economic conditions and neighborhoods.” stated Paul Myers, Administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County. “While today’s report presents county level rankings, health promotion and improvement rely on collaborations of all sectors of society regardless of where we choose to live, work, and play.”

The Rankings include a snapshot of each county in Florida with a color-coded map comparing each county’s overall health ranking. There are also new county-level trend graphs detailing change over time for several of the measurements including children living in poverty, unemployment, and quality of care.

The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.