How does Washoe County rank on health outcomes? 6 quick takeaways
Washoe County dropped a notch from second to third in statewide rankings for overall health outcomes.
This comes from an annual County Rankings and Roadmaps report announced Wednesday by the Washoe County Health District and the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine.
The health outcome ranking weighs “length of life” and “quality of life” using different measurements and says which counties are best. In Nevada, the top 5 are:
- Douglas
- Pershing
- Washoe
- Storey
- Elko
Clark County came in sixth, with Mineral County worst and Esmeralda County not included because too little data is available for its tiny population of just over 700.
Most of the new report is based on data that only goes through 2020 so the full impact of the COVID pandemic is not yet captured.
The presentation in the Washoe County chambers also looked at teens and other children. Based on data from 2016 to 2020, 19% of children 18 years and younger in Washoe County have no health insurance – that’s much higher than the state (16.6%) and the nation (14.3%).
Here are four other takeaways from the report:
• Low rankings: Areas where Washoe County ranked poorly compared with other Nevada counties were alcohol-impaired driving; air pollution, which has been affected by California wildfires; and sexually transmitted infections with Washoe worst in the state for the rate of chlamydia.
• High rankings: Washoe County ranked better than the state average for access to primary care physicians, the number of mental health providers per capita, participation in mammography screenings and fewer people who are inactive physically.
• Life expectancy: The average number of years a Washoe County resident can expect to live is 78.2. That’s a smidge above the state average at 78.1 and lower than the U.S. average at 78.5.
• Bad math: Under the heading of “Social Determinants of Health,” the presentation looked at the percent of students in grades 3 to 8 who were proficient in math for the 2020-21 school year – 30.9% were. If students receive free or reduced lunch, that percentage dropped to 17.2%. Black students were at 14%, and Hispanic at 18%.
The Health District will release its Community Health Improvement Plan soon that will show how public health organizations in Washoe County are addressing public health matters locally.
County data and rankings from around the country can be viewed at countyhealthrankings.org.
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