Macon County Public Health

Macon County's State of the County Health Report 2010


Macon County Public Health and Macon County Healthy Carolinians are pleased to issue Macon County’s State of the County’s Health Report for 2010. This report informs community members, leaders, organizations and others about Macon County’s progress on certain health issues. It also provides the most current data on a number of leading health indicators such as: county demographics, leading causes of death, chronic disease mortality, injury prevention, access to care, maternal and child health, and health promotion.

The State of the County Health Report, or SOTCH report as it is commonly known, highlights both the county’s progress and barriers during the year in relation to health priorities identified in the 2007 comprehensive Community Health Assessment. The report compares Macon County residents to four peer counties (counties with similar population and demographic characteristics) and the state as a whole to see what areas could be improved upon. The report also celebrates the accomplishments of local collaborations and coalitions that have made an impact on Macon County’s health through chronic disease prevention and access to care.

Positive highlights noted in the report include:

• The Franklin Community Care Clinic opened in February, 2010; improving access to health care for low income and uninsured residents.
• Self-reported data collected from youth indicated improvements in tobacco use initiation, consumption of fruits, and cocaine and inhalant use.
• The rate (per 1000) of teen pregnancies (ages 15 -19) dropped from 59.6 in 2006 to 53.4 by the end of 2009.
• Body mass index (BMI) trends were favorable when measured at Macon County elementary school health fairs.
• Macon County’s rates for bacteria positive well water samples fell from 70% in July, 2008 to less than 30% in July, 2010 due to improvements in chlorination practices.


Issues noted in the report indicating opportunities for further improvement included:

• More than half of Macon County deaths between 2005 and 2009 were due to chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
• Macon County’s death rates attributable to unintentional injury and suicide were significantly higher than the state’s rates.
• The latest available data on maternal smoking showed that Macon County’s percent of live births where the mother smoked was 22.3%; more than double the state’s rate of 11%.
• The 75 and older population growth rate is exceeding the growth rate of health care services in the community.

In 2011, Macon County Public Health will conduct a new comprehensive Community Health Assessment. This assessment will be used to establish long-term health priorities for Macon County. It will also be used as the standard for measuring progress in future State of the County Health Reports. The Community Health Assessment will be conducted using many data collection techniques, including telephone interviews, focus groups, key informant surveys, as well as statistical analysis.

Macon County Public Health values the public’s input, questions, and comments about the SOTCH report as well as the Community Assessment process. To access current and historical SOTCH reports and CHA reports, please visit http://www.maconnc.org/healthy-carolinians.html or contact Becky Barr at 349-2437 for more information.