A report from U.S. News ranks Perry County one of the best counties in the country for healthcare access.
The list ranks the southeast Kentucky county fourth overall, citing hospital bed availability as the reason for its ranking. Perry County is home to the Appalachian Regional Healthcare Hospital, as well as multiple Federally Qualified Health Centers and clinics.
Scott Lockard is the director of the Kentucky River District Health Department, which serves Perry County. He called the ranking “exciting” for local health officials.
“They have great access there, in the community. I know a lot of people think that eastern Kentucky, because we have poor health outcomes, that access is limited, but we see actually that that's not the case,” Lockard said.
But despite the high marks in access, he’d also like to see more strides in disease prevention.
“We still have a long way to go here in eastern Kentucky, high percentages of people who smoke, a lot of people with sedentary lifestyles, who are not getting the adequate amount of exercise, and just other problems with chronic disease,” Lockard said.
Locard says he’d also like to see more access to mental health service, substance use disorder treatment and nutrition education.
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