An annual health assessment of Wisconsin counties is out. The report, which details health outcomes in the city of Milwaukee, and all of the state's 72 counties, is a project of the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute . "Despite advances in medical technology and health care . . . disparities (among the state's counties) are as large today as they were ten years ago," says Dr. Patrick Remington, the Institute's director. Ozaukee, Waukesha, Eau Claire, Iowa and Dane counties are the state's healthiest, Menominee County, the city of Milwaukee and Juneau, Marquette and Adams counties are the least healthy.
Remington says the report is like a check up for communities: "this provides for each community . . . an overall measure of population heath." Counties were ranked based on their rate for premature death, and on how people assess their own health.