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Latest health rankings have alarming news for southern Illinois counties

Fueled by high unemployment, unhealthy habits and not enough doctors, southern Illinois counties are among the least healthy in the state, according to a recent 2017 ranking.

According to the study, overall the unhealthiest county in Illinois is Alexander, ranking 102 of 102 Illinois counties.

Hardin County ranks 101st, Pulaski is 100 and Saline County is 99th. Elsewhere in southern Illinois, Randolph County is 52nd, Perry is 68th, Williamson is 71st, Gallatin County is 80th, Franklin is 91st, and Jackson is 92nd.

The annual health rankings by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation used data from more than 20 sources. Information collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FBI crime statistics and the American Community Survey all factor into the rankings.

Access to medical services, healthy foods and exercise are part of the rankings every year as well as smoking habits, teen birthrates, premature death, unemployment, education and sexually transmitted infections.

In Washington County, where the overall health ranking is an impressive 21, high-level specialized medical care is only about an hour away in St. Louis. That's not the case for residents of Gallatin County. They live more than twice that distance away from St. Louis.

There are 5,290 Gallatin County residents for every primary care physician in town - more than four times the statewide ratio. Gallatin is also one of the smallest counties by population in Illinois. It's one of three counties, along with Saline and White, overseen by the Egyptian Health Department.

Data in the health ranking show more than a quarter of the residents in Saline and White are obese. Unemployment, at best, has hovered around 7 percent. Education levels are low, resulting in high numbers of children younger than 18 living in poverty.

None of this is a surprise to the Egyptian Health Department's Jamie Byrd.

"We're undereducated, unemployed and unhealthy," said Byrd, the agency's director of public health. "That's about the gist of it in one sentence."

Byrd said much of the areas health problems relate to a lack of jobs and opportunity as well as the geography.

Gallatin, for example, doesn't have a grocery store. The nearest fresh produce is 15 to 20 miles away.

"We are square in coal country," Byrd said. "You can't drive five minutes somewhere and not look at old coal fields. When coal business is good, our economy is good. Right now, it's not good. So the lack of industry is huge in terms of opportunity."

The Egyptian Health Department documented the health impacts of the poor local economy in a community health assessment sent to the state.

"Poverty creates barriers to access including health services, healthy food and other necessities that contribute to poor health status," the department's self-assessment reads.

An action plan targets four areas where the health department plans to focus its improvement efforts: cancer, heart disease and stroke, substance abuse and diabetes.

Byrd said the department is focusing much of its efforts in education. The department runs programs in every school in its counties. The topics cover the dangers of tobacco and drug use to the components of an overall healthy life.

"We go into the schools and work on the curriculum with the teachers, with the kitchen staff on preparing healthy meals and even the P.E. teachers to make sure our young people are getting the appropriate amount of exercise instead of sitting up in the bleachers on their phones," Byrd said.

"We're hoping by teaching the youngsters that they'll grow up with these things in mind, and they will be happier, healthier adults. We're putting our hope in the future."

Marshall Browning Hospital in Du Quoin is a major source of health care information for Perry County. Mark Welsh/Daily Herald news service
Ferrell Hospital has recently gotten the OK for a major expansion to its Eldorado facility. Travis DeNeal photo
Harrisburg Medical Center is one of two hospitals serving Saline County. Travis DeNeal photo
Much of Williamson County relies on Heartland Medical Center in Marion. Kristin Moore photo