Health rankings help public health officials form plan
The health rankings released last week showing how Clark County compares with the rest of the state make up only a small part of the picture as public health officials gather data for the ongoing community health assessment, a process of prioritizing needs and identifying the resources to meet them.
“The rankings are a piece of a piece of a piece of the projects we’re working on,” Dr. Joe Iser, chief medical officer for the Southern Nevada Health District, said during a meeting about the study. “It’s good information to carry forward and to do other things with, but it’s only a piece of the puzzle.”
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s county health rankings listed Clark as sixth among the 17 in Nevada. The top five healthiest counties are Lincoln, Douglas, Washoe, Carson City and Elko. The five counties in the poorest health, starting with least healthy, are Nye, Mineral, White Pine, Lander and Humboldt. Esmeralda County was not ranked because of insufficient data.
Southern Nevada Health District officials, medical professionals, educators, community leaders and others are in the middle of the community health assessment. The United Way of Southern Nevada, UNLV, the American Heart Association, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce and Dignity Health Nevada are among the groups cooperating on the study.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United Health Foundation also release health rankings officials can use in the assessment process. A community health improvement plan will be written later this year detailing goals, objectives and strategies aimed at improving the health of the community. Separately, health district officials will write a strategic plan for the agency, which is more of an internal document, said Demetria Patton, the accreditation coordinator for the health district.
The assessment and both plans eventually will be submitted to the Public Health Accreditation Board, an organization dedicated to improving the quality and performance of tribal, state, local and territorial public health departments. Accreditation is a years-long process, Patton said, and Southern Nevada public health officials are on the first step of a seven-part process: preapplication. The second step, submitting the application, probably won’t happen until August 2016, Patton said.
“When you go through accreditation, you are able to see your strengths and weaknesses,” Patton said. “When you do that assessment, you learn how you can improve your agency and better serve your residents.”
Another benefit of the accreditation process could be the identification of grant opportunities to attract more funding to the district, Patton said.
Of the 3,000 health districts nationwide, only 67 have become accredited, but the accreditation process itself is in its infancy, having been created in 2011.
The community health improvement plan will detail policies and actions that promote health. Iser said the needs of the community will be balanced against available resources and the authority of public health officials to effect change.
For example, the need for diabetes prevention programs is great, but money also must be directed to delaying or preventing other chronic diseases. Public health officials support the creation of smoke-free zones in public places, but they lack the authority to institute such measures in bars and casinos, which are exempt from the ban on smoking in all enclosed workplaces.
Contact Steven Moore at smoore@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563.
