SWFL didn't make list of 500 healthiest in U.S. but Lee County is 27th in the state

Liz Freeman, Fort Myers News-Press
·4 min read
Devin Allen 14, catches the cup dropped by the robot. His cousins Jada Battle, 9, and SaraeÕa Mann, 11, react with him. The robot was on display as part of the Lee County Sheriff's booth. The 15th Annual Dunbar Neighborhood Watch "Unity in the Community" celebration was held on High Street in Fort Myers, Thursday, June 2, 2022. Ms. Taunya put on the celebration to celebrate the last day of school. Every year she welcomes hundreds of kids for the free event. Waterslides, free food, music and so much more. The Fort Myers Police Department, Lee County Sheriff, Lee Health and other vendors were on hand.

Lee County missed the list of the top 25 healthiest counties in the state by two spots and came in 27, according to the latest standings by U.S. News & World Report.

Collier County ranks 14 among the healthiest counties in Florida.

At the top is St. John’s County and Sarasota County ranks third healthiest, according to a state list.

The news magazine in conjunction with CVS Health released Wednesday its fifth annual overall 500 healthiest communities in the U.S. which delves into 10 categories and provides scores in each.

A separate list addresses the top 25 healthiest counties in the state.

Related: Southwest Florida not among 500 healthiest communities in U.S., according to U.S. News

Communities are scored on a 100-point scale tied to how they perform relative to one another, and receive a ranking based on their performance as well.

Only two communities in Florida made the top 500 national list, which are St. John’s which had an overall score of 72 points and Seminole County with 64 points.

Seminole is the second healthiest county in the Florida, based on the separate list of the top 25 healthiest counties in Florida.

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The categories examined are population health, equity, education, economy, food and nutrition, environment, public safety, community vitality and infrastructure.

The top 500 communities in the U.S. are Los Alamos County, New Mexico, in the top spot and Falls Church, Virginia, is No. 2, while Douglas County, Colorado, is No. 3. Completing the top five are Morgan County, Utah and Carver County, Minnesota, at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.

“The data behind the healthiest communities rankings provides a deep dive into the state of health equity in our country," Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News, said. "By examining data on natural hazards, we can see how various demographic populations are affected by the risks tied to their environment.”

The rankings are based on an evaluation of 3,000 communities nationwide, examining 89 metrics within the 10 overall categories.

Where do Collier and Lee counties rank?

Collier’s overall score was 52 and Lee’s was 46, the data shows.

Florida's top 25 healthiest communities performed best in the categories of infrastructure, community vitality, and food and nutrition. They performed worst in the housing and environment categories, according to the news magazine.

Collier scored 76 in food and nutrition, 68 in overall population health, 56 in education, 30 in the environment, 63 in the economy, 28 in housing and according to the scores. Its overall community vitality score is 72.

Lee scored 63 in food and nutrition, 58 in population health, 47 in education, 30 in the environment, 58 in economy, and 35 in housing. Lee’s overall community vitality score is 68.

The scores are based on factors key to evaluating community health that were identified by the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, a policy advisory board to the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is part of its Measurement Framework for Community Health and Well-Being. U.S. News adapted the model in consultation with leading population health experts, resulting most notably in the inclusion of an equity category.

To determine the weights assigned to each category, more than a dozen experts in population health and well-being participated in an online survey in which they assessed each category's relative importance to community health.

Each individual distributed 100 points across the 10 health and health-related categories, assigning more points to categories they perceived to be more important.

The project serves as a tool to inform residents, community health leaders and elected officials about policies and best practices for better health outcomes by assessing which communities offer their citizens the greatest opportunity to live a productive, healthy life.

For the third year in a row, county-level coronavirus data on metrics such as cases, deaths and vaccination rates are available through the COVID-19 and Your Community data hub.

“We all know the significant impact that social determinants have on the health and well-being of individuals and our local communities,” Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, vice president and chief health equity officer, CVS Health, said in a news release. “The data we collect helps us determine the best way to collaborate with communities to develop sustainable solutions and advance health equity in a way that meets their unique needs.”

The list of the top 25 counties  in Florida is here https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/slideshows/healthiest-communities-in-florida

To examine the list of the top 500 communities, go to https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/us-news-releases-healthiest-counties-rankings

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: U.S. News & World Report: Lee County 27th on healthiest FL county list