Sarasota, Fla. -The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, (DOH – Sarasota) recognizes the value in measuring health outcomes and today acknowledged the 2019 County Health Rankings & Road-maps tool released by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This study highlights the many community factors that influence health and uses established data, much of which is available from the department at www.FLHealthCHARTS.com.
“The County Health Rankings help us to understand what factors have influenced good health in our community and how we can continue to make Sarasota a healthy place to live, learn, work and play,” said DOH-Sarasota Health Officer/Administrator Chuck Henry, who also serves as the Director for Sarasota County Health and Human Services. “Residents and visitors alike stand to benefit from the expansive and long-standing collaborations in our community aimed at fostering healthy environments and healthy lifestyles.”
These rankings are a snapshot of the health of counties across the country, and they emphasize that health is not a singular effort but a combined work in progress across all community partners. The department works in collaboration with local governments, non-profit organizations, health care facilities, business groups, schools, faith-based organizations and many other stakeholders to improve the health of all people in Sarasota County. These rankings use data related to physical environments, social and economic factors, health behaviors and clinical care. In Sarasota County, the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) is designed to address specific opportunities for improved health that have been identified by the community. The department has partnered with many stakeholders to implement the CHIP and collaborates regularly to track progress.
“Though we are not out of the woods, we are starting to see reductions in the number of overdose deaths from our multi-pronged approach with many community partners,” said Phillip Brooks, MA, LMHC, Vice President, Outpatient and Youth Service, First Step Sarasota.
Additionally, the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, (DOH-Sarasota) recently transitioned our community health clinics that provided health care to adults, children and pregnant women to our Federally Qualified Health Care, (FQHC) partner CenterPlace Health to provide medical care to the same population in Sarasota County. This partnership will ensure that these clinics will continue to serve our uninsured and under-insured individuals in Sarasota County.
“As a new start-up, we are appreciative of the help we’ve received from DOH – Sarasota and are working to ensure everyone in Sarasota County that needs health care has access to it.,” said Linda Stone, Chief Executive Officer, CenterPlace Health. Our goal is to continually improve the health of our patient’s and our county.
To explore more health indicators in your county, visit www.FLHealthCHARTS.com.
About the Florida Department of Health
The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @HealthyFla.
For more information about the Florida Department of Health, please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.