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California health report card shows lower rates for most diseases
PANORAMA CITY, CA - JANUARY 28: Dr. Jason Greenspan (L) and emergency room nurse Junizar Manansala care for a patient in the ER of Mission Community Hospital where doctors held a press conference outside on a class action lawsuit against the state of California by a coalition of emergency room physicians claiming that without additional funding, the entire emergency healthcare system is on the verge of collapse on January 28, 2009 in Panorama City, California. According to the coalition, the cost of providing emergency room treatment has nearly doubled over the past decade and patient load increased by more than 28 percent while Medi-Cal reimbursements have remained largely unchanged. During that time, 85 California hospitals in California have closed and an additional 55 facilities have shut down their emergency rooms. California now reportedly ranks worst in the nation for access emergency care and last in emergency rooms per capita. California has seven emergency rooms per million people while the national average is 20 emergency rooms per million people. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Junizar Manansala;Jason Greenspan
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California health report card shows lower rates for most diseases
California is reporting statewide improvements in key public health measures, including rates for many chronic diseases, sexually-transmitted infections, motor vehicle crashes and accidental deaths, according to the County Health Status Profiles 2013 report released today.
Overall, the 20th annual report shows a statewide drop in the rate of most illnesses, including all cancers, heart disease, stroke and diabetes from 2009-2011, compared with 2006-2008. Also down were deaths from homicides, motor vehicle crashes and those from unintentional causes – including drug overdoses. The number of AIDS and gonorrhea cases also fell.
At the same time, however, California recorded an increase in deaths from Alzheimer’s disease, and a slight uptick in the number of deaths from suicide and chronic liver disease. Incidents of the sexually-transmitted infection, Chlamydia, also climbed statewide.
This year’s nearly 100-page report was the first to compare state public health markers to national public health goals set by the federal government in its three-year-old Healthy People 2020 campaign.
While California met and exceeded many of the national goals - including those for reducing deaths from cancer, homicide and motor vehicle crashes - it fell below them in several other areas. Among them: the number of deaths caused by female breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease and stroke.
County Health Status Profiles 2013
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