PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island is the 15th healthiest state in the nation, according to the recently-released America's Health Rankings®—2014 edition report. Rhode Island's status jumped four spots in the new rankings, up from 19th place last year.
According to the report, the state's strengths include its high immunization coverage and ready availability of primary care physicians.
"We applaud our health professionals, hospitals, health care facilities, and community partners for helping to make Rhode Island a healthy and safe place to live, learn, work, and play," said Michael Fine, MD, director of HEALTH. "We are pleased by these steps forward for Rhode Island's health, but we are also reminded of the work that will help us get to number one."
That work will include addressing Rhode Island's health challenges, which, according to the report, include a high rate of drug deaths, prevalence of binge drinking, and preventable hospitalizations. In addition, Rhode Islanders report many days of poor mental and physical health per month.
America's Health Rankings® is the longest-running report of its kind. For 25 years, these rankings have provided an analysis of national health on a state-by-state basis, evaluating a historical and comprehensive set of health, environmental and socioeconomic data to determine national health benchmarks and state rankings.
For more information, visit www.americashealthrankings.org For specific data about public health in Rhode Island, visit www.health.ri.gov/data
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