By Maria Altman, St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis, MO. – A report released Wednesday ranks counties by health outcomes and places St. Louis City 106 out of Missouri's 115 counties.
The report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute is the first to rank counties in each state.
The ranking of health care outcomes factored premature deaths and quality of health of county residents.
In a video explaining the report University of Wisconsin's associate dean for Public Health Pat Remington says the goal is to get communities to address health issues.
"We find that health becomes local when you bring the data down to the local level. It's a lot different to think about health indicators at a national or state level," Remington said. "But when we tell a community that they're dead last in a state; that they can understand."
Meanwhile St. Charles County ranked 2nd, St. Louis County 18th, Franklin County 19th, and Jefferson County 28th.
St. Louis City's department of health released a statement saying instances of lead poisoning and STDs have dropped in recent years and the city is working to address other health issues.