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9/24/08
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12 comments
Report details problems with health Down East
With a total population of about 33,300, Washington County accounts for only 2.5 percent of the population of Maine. Yet that population is the oldest and poorest in the state with the highest rates of teen and adult smoking, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Those are some of the “highlights” — if a litany of human disadvantages and ill health can be so termed — of a new report released by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Community Health Status Report for Washington County, compiled from state and federal health data sources, comes in response to a national study released this spring that identified the Sunrise County as one of 179 counties where the life expectancy of American women is declining while elsewhere in the nation it’s on the rise. According to the national report, the declining life expectancy among women in the affected counties is tied to higher rates of diabetes, emphysema, kidney failure and cancer. The counties also were notable for their high rates of unemployment and poverty as well as for the prevalence of racial minorities in the general population. With about 3,370 members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point and Indian Township, Washington County boasts the most racially diverse population in Maine — a 6.2 percent racial minority versus the state average of 3.3 percent. Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine CDC, said Tuesday that the new report underscores the complexity of the health status problem in Washington County. “I like to think of health status as just one of several threads in a blanket — along with education, economic development, infrastructure [such as transportation and access to the Internet], the built environment and the natural environment,” she said. “When you have one thing so out of line, you know it’s not in isolation. You can’t solve one without addressing the others.” Mills said that at a meeting in Machias on Sept. 19, public officials, health care leaders and others from the community recognized the intertwined nature of the county’s problems and the need to address the issues comprehensively. She said groups in the area are committed to improving economic development, educational attainment and infrastructure as well as the health of residents. Mills said the Maine CDC already has helped the area garner nearly a million dollars in federal funding for improving access to primary care, prenatal care, and substance abuse treatment and prevention. The state also has agreed to provide public health specialists to the American Indian tribes in the area and will be hiring a third public health expert to serve as a liaison between the Maine CDC and the Down East region. The survey also could prompt efforts to ensure eligible Washington County residents are enrolled in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, as well as a review of the quality of the health care services in the area, Mills said. Mills said the Maine CDC will conduct regular surveys of regional health data in the future to monitor progress in improving public health. The Maine CDC report, along with a summary of the highlights, is available at www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/phdata/county_level_reports.htm.
Comments
All the programs aforementioned are proactive and responsible for this area of intrest in the article. However, take a look at the cultural aspects of this area. What is there to do? I have visited this area many times in my life as a resident of Maine...all I see are people sitting around, and some of them working. Seems like the "band-aid" image is being created here, instead of creating a "cure" for the issues and problems. Please, State officials, take a closer look at this area of Maine and determine if some shot in the arm can be made as far as more industry or created jobs can me evoluted. With the provinces of Canada so close, cannot some cooperative plan be made to help in the economical development of jobs created? Let's see what can be done, if anyone is interested, that is. John, youre partly right; employment is bad here. The industry is not about to come to a place where the infrastructure is so bad on top of high business taxes. Roads in Washington County are tight and in poor shape. Between Gardner and Indian Lakes comes to mind as just one place. Getting to the Airline means using narrow back roads. Route 1 takes you through small towns and slows truckers down. And the states answer to our transport problems is make bike and walking trails with the railways. Think about it; if you were in business to make money would you move it to a place where transport costs are through the roof? Or would you stay in Portland, Lewiston/Auburn, or Bangor where the infrastructure is better and easy to get to? How about incentives for small business instead of trying to get large industry to come save us. As for Canada, did you read about the conference and protests in Bar Harbor last week? Do you actually live in the Phillipines John? if so when was the last time you were here in Washington County? Where did you see ..."all I see are poeple sitting around..." Did you go into their homes? This sort of comment which is largely unfounded, unless you mean you saw elderly residents of nursing homes sitting around, sheds an extreme stigma on Washington County. In short what you say is untrue. "What is there to do?" John asks. Well there are no big malls, this is a rural area. Many people ( who are not sitting around in Nursing homes) enjoy outdoor activities and work year round outdoors, we go to school, other kinds of work, even professional jobs, IMAGINE THAT JOHN? We go to church, we go to U Maine Machias, we even actually leave Washington County at times to see other places, do other things. Do yo know how expensive it is to NOT have an employer cover your health care policy.?Do you know, even if an employer does cover health insurance, how much it costs out-of-pocket anyhow.?Do you know many of us pay out-of-pocket and are NOT on Mainecare? What do you know? I am retired, but still working per diem, I run a small farm by myself, I garden , knit, crochet, have a photography hobby, and have a small online business. I also attend church regularly and participate in several groups. I may not be in the majority, but I know LOTS of folks in Downeast Washington county who are just as busy if not busier. Sure, there is unemployment, but there is plenty to do here in spite of john's comment.
Many folks garden, and not just for themselves. We have a very active Farmer's Market. We have MANY folks who produce milk, milk products, hand crafts, art objects etc on a small scale. Many families "manufacture" wood for their stoves each year.
We may be older, poorer, and in less good health statistically than some other areas, but sitting around doing nothing? Not too many folks that I know! Most Downeasters are worthless anyway!!!! tju12008 , your just a idiot thats all. Come on down for a little visit. meadowlands, I do agree with you on this one. Machias is a good area. If you can work for UMM its a good deal. Wheres my boy Chris M.??????? Already been there Stevey LOL thanks for proving my point!!! have an oxy you'll feel better !!!!! Washington County is hopeless. It should be renamed OXY-Heaven. That's right, tar the whole county with the brush created by a few! Not everyone in Washigton County is a druggie! Most people want to work in Washington County. Seems like we are always being judged by the other state of Maine. How do you know that we are not all on night shift? There isn't much to do around here except for outdoorsman. I love it here, but it sucks because everything seems to be closing down. The Passamaquoddies tried to get a casino going. Got voted out. Bangor got it though. Now another place will probably get one. Ya knock down those who are trying to do something and and then pity them and say we all all sitting on our ass just collecting and doping it up. If Baldacci had lived up this way, the first slot place would have been in Washington County. Okay folks, lets get back to the article and quit the name calling for a second. It's not just the healthcare system that is failing, it's everything else. It's like a domino effect... your young, your don't have the opportunities for recreation/entertainment here like other places. From here you can go into one direction or the other....you can get more involved in school activities/sports, or you become part of the group that starts sneaking off to the property next to the school to smoke cigarettes or even sneak a sip or two. Then, if you choose the first path, you may go onto college or get a great job, you might start a family, etc., or, you fall into the other pathway and possibly get into drugs, unable to hold a job, maybe even get into a bad relationship. Sometimes you just end up in the middle, not following either direction completely. My point is, yes, we need to rethink our healthcare, and so forth, but we also need to start putting programs in place to help us get our kids off into the right direction, or maybe yet, help the not so fortunate (the ones who really want to improve their life) get on the right path. Baldacci needs to pay more attention to the little guys and help us be the county we could be, and stop putting restraints on the progress we so desperately need! HE NEEDS TO GO!!!!!
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