Middle-of-the-pack finish for Halifax in Conference Board's health rankings
OTTAWA, Dec. 13, 2016 /CNW/ - Halifax finishes 7th overall with a "B" grade in a recent report by The Conference Board of Canada comparing the health performance of 10 Canadian cities.
"Halifax gets mixed results when it comes to health," said Louis Thériault, Vice-President, Public Policy. "While the city receives an "A" on access to health care services, a weak ranking on both population health and healthy lifestyle is concerning."
Highlights
- Halifax finishes in 7th place overall and receives a "B" grade.
- Saskatoon finishes first in the city health rankings, placing ahead of Calgary and Winnipeg. All three of these metro areas score an "A" grade.
- Montreal is the only city to receive an overall "D" grade for city health.
The City Health Monitor examines and benchmarks the physical and socio-economic health of 10 metropolitan areas in Canada. Each metro area receives a grade based on their performance on 24 indicators, grouped into four categories: life satisfaction; population health; healthy lifestyle; and access to health care services.
A bright spot for Halifax is the access to health care category, where it receives an "A" grade and ranks 2nd among the 10 comparator Canadian cities. This is largely due to placing in the top four on all indicators in this category, which includes residents having a regular medical doctor, as well as having an adequate number of specialists, nursing/midwifery personnel, and available hospital beds, relatively speaking.
Halifax narrowly misses an "A" grade in the life satisfaction category due to a very low grade on perceived mental health, and residents reporting being less satisfied with life in general. On a positive note, residents report feeling a sense of belonging in their local community and a lack of stress in the workplace.
In the population health category, Halifax performs poorly on most indicators and earns a "D" grade. This is mostly due to ranking last on the percentage of the population diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or mood disorders, and near-bottom rankings for relatively high rates of asthma and hypertension.
Halifax receives another "D" grade on healthy lifestyle. Although it posts a first-place ranking on influenza immunization, poor showings on the obesity, smoking, and fruit and vegetable consumption indicators hurt its overall performance in this category.
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SOURCE Conference Board of Canada
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Yvonne Squires, Media Relations, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: 613- 526-3090 ext. 221, E-mail: [email protected]; Juline Ranger, Director of Communications, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: 613- 526-3090 ext. 431, E-mail: [email protected]
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