Sarasota ranks among state's healthiest counties

David Gulliver - posted 11:55 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17

Sarasota County ranked fourth among the state's 67 counties for the overall health of its residents, according to a first-ever nationwide study of counties' health performance released this morning.

Nearby Manatee and Charlotte counties also scored well in the study, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin. The study looks both at the factors that influence a community’s health -- such as obesity, smoking, and access to doctors and health insurance -- and at the outcomes, like mortality rates and people’s perception of their health.

A Sarasota Health News analysis found a strong statistical correlation between those measures: The counties with strong underlying health factors tend to have strong outcomes as well.

It also found that Fllorida’s affluent and retiree-laden coastal counties tend to be healthiest, and the poor and rural counties in the state’s north-central region and around Lake Okeechobee its least healthy.

Sarasota placed fourth for health outcomes, as measured by a life expectancy statistic and by surveys of residents. Two other counties with wealthy retiree enclaves -- Collier County and St. John's County -- and Seminole County led the list.

Manatee County ranked 17th and Charlotte County ranked 19th in the same category.

The local counties also fare well in health factors. Sarasota placed 11th, with Charotte 17th and Manatee 21st.

By combining the two measures as an "index" of health quality, Sarasota again placed fourth, behind St. John's, Seminole and Martin Counties.

The link between underlying factors and outcomes was no surprise to Dr. Kevin Sherin, director of public health for the Orange County health department and a nationally-recognized expert in the field.

“It is economics,” he said. “People who have jobs, who have access to healthy food, who have access to care, who have an understanding about how lifestyle affects their health -- doesn’t it make intuitive sense that they would be healthier?”

“If you don’t have a job, chances are, you won’t be in as good health.”

In the strong-performing coastal counties, like Sarasota and Charlotte, about one-third of residents have guaranteed health care access via Medicare. Those residents also are likely have what Sherin called “medical literacy” -- the ability to understand their medical conditions, their doctors’ directions and how lifestyle choices affect them.

More details to come later today; also see our coverage at partner Health News Florida.

You can see overall and sub-category rankings and the full report at this link.