Clay County's ailing economy is taking a heavy toll on the health of its residents.

Health officials have compiled the first countywide health-needs assessment, and the overall tone of the 104-page report is bleak. 

Many residents say the nagging stress caused by the recession has compromised their health, according to a survey of about 1,500 people that forms the backbone of the assessment. 

Overall, compared with five years ago, people reported being less healthy, more concerned about alcohol and drug abuse and less equipped to pay for their own medical care.

"When people are stressed, they don't feel healthy," said Nancy Mills, administrator of the Clay County division of the Florida Health Department, which is releasing the report today  along with the Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida and Orange Park Medical Center.

The report identifies problems and suggests ways to address them. But the report itself acknowledges that medical providers and volunteer organizations face a tough task amid state budget cuts in health care and limited access to primary medical care, especially among the poor.

Here is a look at some of the report's details.

Health insurance

Fewer people have it. Those who said they get coverage through their job plummeted from 66 percent to 42 percent from 2005 to 2010. Meanwhile, the number of people saying they can't afford insurance or get it through Medicaid, the government-sponsored program for the poor, rose dramatically.

That financial insecurity cast a shadow over medical access, with people reporting they can't afford to visit the doctor or hospital jumping from 26 percent to 41 percent.

Emergency room use

Triggered in part by a drop in insurance coverage rates, people turned in increasing numbers to the county's lone emergency room for health care. Asked "where would you go if you get sick," one out of four responded that they would go to Orange Park Medical Center's emergency room, up from one out of 10 five years earlier.

"What we need to look at is are people using the emergency room for true emergencies or using it as a medical home," Mills said.

Since 2000, visits to Orange Park's ER have grown 75 percent, prompting the hospital to expand the department.

Weight issues

At 69 percent, Clay's rate of people who are overweight or obese is the highest in Northeast Florida and six percentage points higher than the statewide percentage. The report recommends that health officials collaborate with businesses and civic groups to create community gardens and stock grocery stores with fresh foods.

One out of 10 residents at or below the federal poverty level in Clay must travel more than a mile to buy food, according to the report.

Overall health

In one of the leading indicators, 73 percent of the survey participants rated their health as "excellent" or "good," compared with 82 percent in 2005. 

Asked whether economic stress has "negatively impacted" their health, 40 percent checked "yes, definitely" while 32 percent indicated "a little bit." About one out of five said it wasn't a factor.

jeremy.cox@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4083

SOURCE: http://jacksonville.com/community/clay/2010-10-04/story/report-clay-county%E2%80%99s-health-devolves-recession-blamed