2014 Rankings Release: Highlighting the County Health Rankings Local Events

This year’s Rankings release marked the fifth anniversary of the first national release of the County Health Rankings. To celebrate this milestone, we spotlighted three places —Rockingham County, NC; Grant County, KY; and Western New York-- that are using the Rankings & Roadmaps to inform and guide their work. These communities have successfully brought together diverse stakeholders to tackle a broad range of barriers to health. Although these communities have varying levels of resources, challenges, and priorities – all have used the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps in their efforts to build a culture of health.

Events took place on March 26^th in Rockingham County, North Carolina; April 2^nd in Frankfort, Kentucky; and April 4^th in Amherst, New York.

Rockingham County’s event highlighted their road to health, the process by which the community has come together, and honored local health champions. The Rankings served as a catalyst for their health improvement efforts in 2010, when seeing how the county fared against their peers was a wakeup call. To enlist stakeholder support, the public health director Glenn Martin, physically took the report around the county. However, rather than just limiting his visits to traditional health stakeholders, he also visited people such as the President of the Partnership for Economic and Tourism Development. Jen Nixon, Executive Director of the Rockingham County Healthcare Alliance, credits that effort as helping the community make the connection between health, education, and the state of the County’s economy.

To learn more about Rockingham County, their work and the event, visit County Health Rankings 2014: Rockingham County, N.C.  and Nurse Family Partnership

The Friedell Committee partnered with the Kentucky Department for Public Health to host an event in Frankfort, which provided inspiration to health advocates, as well as strong examples of health initiatives underway throughout Kentucky.  Lieutenant Governor Jerry Abramson began the event and discussed the importance of the Rankings & Roadmaps in this work by saying, “The Rankings are bringing communities together and are setting a standard for communities and counties to rise to.” He also emphasized the need for all sectors to work together to build a healthier Kentucky.

To learn more about the specific health initiatives underway in one featured Kentucky county, visit County Health Rankings 2014: Grant County, Kentucky

The P2 Collaborative’s Western New York event recognized the strong County Health Rankings driven work taking place throughout the eight counties in the region—which include Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and Wyoming. The event offered a spotlight on important collaboration taking place within and across counties.  A central theme during the event was how data has helped communities see where they need to put their resources. Dr. Gregory Young, Western Regional Director of the New York State Department of Health explained how the County Health Rankings model played an instrumental role in the development of the State’s prevention agenda and a sharpened focus on areas to target.

To learn more about Western New York, their work and the event, visit County Health Rankings 2014: Western New York