Peoria County Health Report From Administrator Greg Chance

In addition, the area should be pleased that Mr. Chance was awarded an extension of his contract for another three years. For whatever it is worth, the actual name of the local health Dept, is Peoria County but still is called City/County.

Peoria County is Moderately Healthy

-Annual Rankings serves as a call to action to improve community health.

Peoria County continues to have moderately healthy residents in Illinois according to the annual County Health Rankings, released today by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

This is the second year of the County Health Rankings, the most comprehensive report of its kind to rank the overall health of all counties in Illinois by using a standard way to measure how healthy people are and how long they live.

In reviewing the Report, Greg Chance, Administrator at Peoria City/County Health Department states, "While the Peoria County community health system has taken important steps to improve the health of our community, the Health Rankings indicates that there is more that we can do to help residents lead healthier lives."

• "The Rankings shows us where we are doing well and provides us with information about what is working, such as factors that influence our overall health with strengths in the areas of clinical care, access to recreational facilities, and the physical environment."

• "The Rankings also sheds light on factors that are making our residents unhealthy and what areas would make Peoria County a healthier place to live. Peoria County is at-risk for poor health when it comes to factors and behaviors that affect health, such as smoking, drinking, STDs, teen birth rates, single-parent households and unemployment."

• "The Rankings provides us with an opportunity to make people aware of steps we are taking to improve the health of our residents, like Community Health Improvement Strategic Planning. The Health Department is facilitating a committee of key community health system stakeholders formed to understand and incorporate action steps to a healthier Peoria County. The committee now has three workgroups that are developing strategic health improvement plans that the community can utilize to address the critical health issues of Oral Health, Obesity, and Reproductive Health."

Chance adds, "Everyone in our community has a stake in being healthy. Working together, we can make Peoria County a healthier place to live and work."

For more information about Community Health Improvement Planning and other public health issues, visit our website at www.pcchd.org and follow us on Facebook.