It’s safe to say we’re healthier than average in the Chippewa Valley, at least according to high-profile annual rankings compiled by the UW Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Eau Claire County was the 17th healthiest of 72 counties in the state (up from 19th in 2012) while Dunn County placed 12th (up from 13th) and Chippewa County landed at 26th (up from 31st).

What’s behind the numbers? The index is based on categories including mortality (premature deaths), morbidity (people in poor health, low birthweight babies, etc.), behaviors (smoking rates, obesity, excessive drinking, etc.), clinical care (the share of people without health insurance, the ratio of primary care doctors, etc.), social and economic factors (unemployment, child poverty rate, etc.), and the physical environment. Eau Claire County ranks among the top one-third of Wisconsin counties in all of these areas except physical environment. In that category – which includes factors such as limited access to healthy foods and prevalence of fast-food restaurants – the county ranks a poor 56th out of 72.

“We continue to see increased numbers of people paying attention to nutrition and physical fitness issues.”
-- Lieske Giese, director, Eau Claire City-Council
Health Department

Creating a healthier physical environment will require collaboration, says Lieske Giese, director of the Eau Claire City-County Health Department. “We can make some choices that allow us to be healthier as a community,” she says. “It’s not just individual decisions: Did you eat an apple or did you eat a brownie?” The area also faces serious challenges related to alcohol abuse: According to another recent study, Eau Claire County has the seventh-highest binge-drinking rate in the state.

On the plus side, the Valley is home to more than its share of highly regarded health institutions, including Mayo Clinic Health System, Sacred Heart Hospital, Marshfield Clinic, and others. The area also has an above-average number of doctors per capita and a smaller-than-average share of uninsured residents.

However, our health comes at a price. Health insurance in the metro area is the third most expensive in the state, according to December rankings from Citizen Action Wisconsin. According to the study, a single monthly health insurance premium in our area costs $762 a month, just behind Milwaukee and Racine, which were tied at $767 a month. (Eau Claire was 6.6 percent higher than the state average.)