Lowville— Lewis County is rather small, an area that covers 1,290 square miles and with an estimated population of 27, 087.
Some may speculate that small rural cities in the United States may have limited access to health care or that the quality of health care is poor. According to the “HealthGrades Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence,” American cities were ranked according to distinguished hospitals and quality of healthcare.
Ranked in Order:
· Baltimore, MA
· Phoenix - Prescott, AZ
· Cedar Rapids, IA
· Richmond, VA
· Cincinnati, OH
· West Palm Beach, FL
· Chattanooga, TN
· St. Louis, MI
· Hartford-New Haven, CT
· Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI
While Lowville is not on this list, the Center for Community Studies recently released their “6th Annual Lewis County Survey of the Community.” The longitudinal study revealed that 91% of adults within Lewis County has lived in the area for more than 7 years and 88% of those said they would remain living in Lewis County for the next 5 years.
Interestingly enough, approximately 91.3% of those surveyed ranked quality of the environment as “Excellent” or “Good,” while only 0.5% said “Poor.” This appeared to reflect an equally high number of Lewis County residents more than satisfied with their healthcare. Ranked as either “Excellent” or “Good”, both access to healthcare and quality reached its highest levels in 6 years.
Lewis County residents ranked either “Excellent” or “Good”
· 72% Access to healthcare
· 79% Quality of healthcare
However, one out of ten residents said they did not obtain necessary medical treatment because of cost. 48%, nearly half of those that did not receive medical treatment, was due to not having health insurance. While 38% of residents that did have healthcare, said they had to travel outside of Lewis County and 31% of those said it was due to “personal preference, not happy with local quality.” 50% of those over the age of 70 reported having moved out of Lewis County for primary medical reasons.
