Vermont Staying Healthy

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Created on Friday, 27 March 2015 17:25

Written by Julia Rose

VERMONT-- Vermont is number two of the healthiest states in the country. And now Caledonia County is starting to go up for the healthiest counties in Vermont.

Caledonia County is now number nine of the fourteen counties in Vermont, according to the Vermont Department of Health. Although the county is not in the high numbers of healthiest counties in Vermont, Laurel Ruggles V.P. of Marketing at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, said this does not mean that it isn't healthy.

"We don't tend to focus so much on the overall rankings as we try to look at the individual factors and try to see how we are improving each year," Ruggles said. "And there is actually thirty-eight different factors, and we either improved or stayed the same in 31 of the 38, so we are actually doing pretty, pretty good."

The rankings are based off four main categories of health factors, with each category having articles that need to be checked off. The health factors include: Tobacco use, Diet and Exercise, Alcohol and Drug Use, Sexual Activity, Access to Care, Quality of Care, Education, Employment, Income, Family and Social Support, Community Safety, Air and Water Quality, and lastly Housing and Transit.

Chittenden County is considered the healthiest in Vermont, while Essex and Orleans are considered the least healthiest counties. The full list of the counties health rankings can be found on the Vermont Department of Health website.