The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

A week ago, representatives from the Washington Rural Health Association came to Dayton for a roundtable, sponsored by the Columbia County Health System. About 50 local residents attended and heard a presentation on the current state and the future of local and national healthcare.

At the beginning of her presentation, moderator Sue De- itz presented some statistics her organization had gathered regarding demographics and health status of residents of CCHS's service area.

The statistics were interesting, and in some cases, wor- rying. We'd like to share them with our readers, beginning with some "Fast Facts" that were handed out: Dayton General Hospital serves nearly all of Columbia County and a small portion of Walla Walla County, in southeast Washington. With just 5,793 residents, or 6.1 persons per square mile, the agricultural area known for growing wheat, aspar- agus and peas, is among the least populated in the state. Nearly on half of the service area's residents live in Dayton (pop. 2,526). The area's per capita income is 75% of the state average. More than one in seven residents of Columbia County receives food assistance. The county has seen virtually no growth in its population during the last 20 years. Area smoking and high blood pressure rates are significantly higher than state averages, and the service area also fares worse than the state on other health status indicators, including high cholesterol and physical inactivity. The rate of deaths due to respiratory disease is also significantly higher in the service area.

Here are the statistics Deitz presented:

Service Area Demographics 2000 2010 Population 5,807 5,793