DuPage County residents can say they live in the healthiest county in Illinois.
The 2016 County Health Rankings lists DuPage as No. 1 among the 102 counties in the state, beating out nearby Kendall County, which placed in second for the third year in a row.
Kane and Will counties ranked 13th and 14th respectively while Cook came in at No. 64.
The annual rankings released Wednesday are a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, and compare counties within each of the 50 states on more than 30 factors that impact health, including economics, education, jobs, housing, exercise, access to screenings and commuting times. This is the seventh year the groups have released the rankings.
DuPage’s 2016 top position this year rose from the county’s No. 3 finish the last two years.
Kate Konkle, associate researcher with the Population Health Institute, said many factors can cause a county to move up the rankings. One county could be showing improvement in various categories while another could be trending in the opposite direction, she said.
The rankings include two separate categories for health outcomes, a county’s current state of health and its health factors, a look at the potential long-term health of residents. Results in both categories rose in DuPage.
A big indicator is the number of premature deaths in DuPage County, which has been declining over the past decade. “That’s a trend that’s moving in the right direction,” Konkle said.
Other positive trends for DuPage County affecting long-term health are physical activity, diabetic monitoring and mammogram screening.
On the negative side is the county’s number of sexually transmitted diseases, which is increasing, and an escalating percentage of children living in poverty.
Konkle said the rankings are meant to be a call to action for communities with health-related issues.
“The data is a starting point,” she said. “Let’s figure out who in our community needs help.”
The 2016 rankings are being heralded by the DuPage County Health Department.
“This is especially gratifying since it is the first time DuPage County has ranked No. 1 in both key measures,” Executive Director Karen Ayala said in a statement. “The health department places a high priority on positively and effectively influencing the factors that affect the health of our residents.”
Ayala pointed to several countywide initiatives instituted over the last several years that likely contributed to the higher ranking, including the DuPage Narcan Program, RxBOX medication collection initiative, Impact DuPage and the DuPage County Prevention Leadership Team.
“We realize that within those programs, as well as many others, our success is due to the strong partnerships and collaborative approaches within DuPage County,” Ayala said. “These rankings are not the result of a single agency’s efforts, but rather the health care safety net systems that exist throughout our communities.
“We will not rest on our laurels,” she added. “We have a strong history of working collaboratively throughout our community to identify our residents’ health needs and then developing innovative and effective programs to keep DuPage County residents healthy.”
With the exception of 2013, when it fell to No. 7, Kendall County has consistently ranked among the top two counties in the state since 2011. It was ranked No. 2 from 2014-16 and was No. 1 in 2011 and 2012.
Kane has bounced around among the top 13 counties the rankings, topping out at No. 5 in 2015.
Date: March 16, 2016