Dallas County health stats show shorter life expectancy in southern areas
DALLAS - Dallas County health officials are sharing how they plan to address major health issues and the lack of care in the most underserved areas.
The plan is the result of a study that looked at the county by zip code to understand what health issues people are dealing with and why. But some worry it's all talk with no change in sight.
“It’s not enough to collect the data, we know the data,” said Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price.
The southern and southeastern parts of the county, communities with the greatest health disparities, do the worst when looking at indicators like premature death and preventable hospitalizations.
People living in Uptown zip code 75204 have a life expectancy of 90-years old, which is 23 years longer than people living in South Dallas zip 75215. That area encompasses Malcolm X Boulevard and the Cedars.
“We shouldn’t have a city where your life expectancy changes by years by the miles that you drive north,” said Dr. Fred Cerise, Parkland Hospital CEO.
A big part of the strategy to improve those numbers community outreach. Last Saturday's health fair in pleasant grove zip 75217 drew hundreds of people.
Former Dallas Police Officer Michelle Nickleberry drew helped organize the event.
“In this zip code folks are struggling to just survive,” said Nickleberry.
Prevention and early diagnosis are key. The sicker the patients, the higher the cost of treatment.
Price said Parkland receives $400 million in taxpayer money and additional funds, with a budget of $1 billion.
“All I want to know is, OK so you’ve collected the data, where are the appropriations, where do you begin, this is not new,” Price said.
The study was a joint effort by Parkland Hospital and the Dallas County Health Department and those responsible for county health say they plan to deliver.
“We are going to use this. We are not just going to have this be something that sits on the shelf and no one ever looks at this again,” said Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas County Health Department.
But they and others agree they can't do it alone.
“It’s not all on the health department, it’s not all on Parkland. We as people in the community have to do something. So if we are going to gripe about it, then come and be part of the solution,” Nickleberry said.