BOH minutes 022410 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH February 24, 2010 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 8 February 24, 2010 Christopher Cooke stated that he felt that a comparison between results versus spending would be a good talking point. Steve Yuhasz asked where Orange County ranks on local per capita spending within the state. Rosemary Summers said that it is broken down into state and local funds and she would provide that information for the joint meeting. E. County Health Rankings Rosemary Summers directed the Board to the PowerPoint slides and the attached report summarizing Orange County’s health rankings. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute to develop a ranking system for all local counties across the country. The ranking compares counties to each other within a state. The rankings are intended to help counties compare the multiple factors that influence health so that people can see where they are doing well and where they need to improve. The rankings show that Orange County is first in health factors and second in health outcomes. These rankings were determined by examining data sets from certain points in time. North Carolina is in a four year cycle of community assessment and continually examines and updates some of the same data points contained in this report. Most of the achievements in Orange County’s health rankings can be attributed to the strong partnerships that exist between both school systems, UNC Health Care System, UNC, non-profit agencies, the business community and governments. One place all of these partners come together is through Healthy Carolinians of Orange County. These partners collaborate to address high priority health issues for county residents. In the last ten years focus has been on mental health services, prevention of child abuse and neglect, reducing obesity in children, and improving access to health services. Despite being higher in rankings overall, there are areas for improvement. The lowest scores for Orange County were in physical environment factors that contribute to health. These measures were ozone and particular matter days in 2005 and access to healthy foods and the density of liquor stores. Work has already occurred in these areas and this is an indicator that more work is needed. The availability of multiple farmers’ markets across the county and the growing movement to start and foster community gardens has already started to improve access to healthy foods. This also may provide new opportunities for economic development of full service groceries in areas of the county that have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. It should be noted that Orange County is in the lower third of all counties for per capita expenditures for public health and falls below the statewide average for per capita. The Department will work with partners to examine these results and use them to further increase the health of our residents and ensure that we do not become complacent by these achievements. F. Informational Items