WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
The annual Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national county health rankings for Michigan are out with a wide gap between members of the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Health Agency.
Health officer Rebecca Burns said according to the statistics, Hillsdale ranks 32nd, Branch is 57th and St. Joseph 63rd. According to the statistics, Hillsdale, overall, is the healthiest in the tri-county area, Burns said.
Actual data shows little difference in resident health between the three counties in the joint health agency and Burns admits the rankings are misleading. She said considering the age of the data and the error of margin, the three counties should all fall in the middle of the rankings.
The state’s delays in compiling vital statistics mean collected data is from 2020-21.
The wide disparity between the three counties doesn’t mean the health of residents is that much different, Burns said.
St. Joseph County finished 63rd of 83 counties in health outcomes and 57th in health factors.
