Mercy touts latest study that ranks Chickasaw County high

Mercy Medical Center-New Hampton officials realize it’s just one study, but they’re celebrating the recent release of a report that contends Chickasaw County is the fourth healthiest county in the state.“There are a lot of positives in this study, and I think it shows we are definitely heading in the right direction,” said Jenny Monteith, the hospital’s director of public relations. “We know there are a lot of parts that go into this and we’re happy to be one of them.”The annual rankings — which are compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute — had Chickasaw County ranked 10th in 2016.This year, though, only Sioux, Winneshiek and Lyon topped Chickasaw in the rankings that  look at a variety of measures — such as high school graduation rates, access to healthy foods, rates of smoking, obesity and teen births — that affect the future health of counties.Chickasaw County scored particularily well in adult smoking, physical activity, sleep issues, preventable hospital stays, diabetes monitoring, mammography screening, high school graduation rates, violent crime, and air pollution.Monteith pointed out that there are a number of groups active in making the county a healthier one.For the complete story see the 4/11/2017 New Hampton Tribune.