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Editorial

Addressing health rankings

Posted 5/20/21

We have a drug problem here in Sullivan County. It was here long before the pandemic and it's going to be here after.

The rate of opioid deaths in Sullivan County still exceeds the state average, …

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Editorial

Addressing health rankings

Posted

We have a drug problem here in Sullivan County. It was here long before the pandemic and it's going to be here after.

The rate of opioid deaths in Sullivan County still exceeds the state average, according to the latest statistics available from the New York State Opioid Data Dashboard. Drug and alcohol dependence has likely increased during the pandemic as people, isolated from much of their normal lives, found other ways to cope with fear and depression over losing their job, paying for housing, etc.

With this in mind it's not a surprise that Sullivan County ranks among the worst in New York State in terms of our health outcomes. We've been at the back of the pack since the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's County Health Rankings & Roadmaps started compiling health data several years ago.

Sullivan County briefly advanced from 61 to 60 in terms of our health outcomes. The forward momentum was not sustained, and we slipped back to 61 out of 62, with only the Bronx ranking worse off than us. These rankings are based on a variety of health factors such as length of life, quality of life, health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.

As the Democrat reported on Tuesday, May 18, Commissioner of Health and Family Services, John Liddle has been tasked by the county with leading a renewed effort to improve our health rankings.

Although Liddle was quick to say that the opioid crisis is our “public enemy number one,” there were a number of other factors that contribute to the overall picture of health outcomes in Sullivan County.

The areas of concern include the number of primary care providers, mammogram screenings, injury deaths (which includes suicide and drug overdoses), post-secondary education, income inequality, child poverty, adult smoking, adult obesity and physical inactivity.

The goals, according to Liddle, seem straightforward enough: ease access to care, end the opioid crisis, enhance communities and encourage healthy behaviors. It's achieving them that has always proved harder done than said.

In order to achieve these goals we must work together with the best and most talented minds in the fields of healthcare, education, business and public policy.

As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day and we won't turn this ship around in one either. This multi-year effort must be a priority for our legislature as we emerge from the pandemic.

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