According to County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, Lewis County is ranked 39 out of 62 counties in terms of mortality, where we have about 500 more premature deaths than the state average.  In terms of morbidity, we rank 7 out of 62, where poor or fair health, poor physical health days, poor mental health days and low birthweight are all lower than the state average.  In terms of social and economic factors, we are ranked 43 out of 62, with 85% high school graduation which is 20% higher than the New York average, only 22% of children living in single-parent households compared to the state 34%, and a violent crime rate of only 156 compared to the state’s 399.  However, only 44% of the population has had some college compared to the state’s 64%.  Our unemployment rate is also higher than the state average at 9.2%.  One indicator for Lewis County that sticks out in the “Health Behaviors” section is the motor vehicle crash death rate of 23 versus the state’s rate of 8.  This means that a significantly greater amount of motor vehicle accidents in Lewis County lead to deaths than the rest of the state on average.  It would be interesting to see the data behind what causes the high amount of deadly motor vehicle accidents, but my guess would be the high frequency of bad winter weather.  An area of need in Lewis County, as outlined in the “Clinical Care” indicators is for more primary care physicians.  While the state average is 781 patients to 1 PCP, in Lewis County there is only 1 PCP for every 1,627 patients.  This places an incredibly heavy burden upon the PCPs of Lewis County and creates a lot of room for error or incomplete care.  Perhaps the high preventable hospital stays figure of 80 versus the state’s 69 can be partially attributed to overworked, overwhelmed, and understaffed PCPs.