Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/961245
124 CMO / CARE DELIVERY 10 healthiest, unhealthiest cities in America By Ayla Ellison T hree of the top 10 healthiest cities in the U.S. are in California, according to an analysis by WalletHub. To identify the healthiest cities in the U.S., WalletHub's analysts compared 174 U.S. cit- ies, including the 150 most populated cit- ies, across four dimensions — healthcare, food, fitness and green space — using 40 metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 rep- resenting the most favorable conditions for a healthy lifestyle. Analysts then calcu- lated overall scores for each city using its weighted average across all metrics. Here are the 10 healthiest cities in the U.S., according to WalletHub. 1. San Francisco 2. Seattle 3. Portland, Ore. 4. San Diego 5. Washington, D.C. 6. Burlington, Vt. 7. Scottsdale, Ariz. 8. Honolulu 9. Irvine, Calif. 10. Denver Here are the 10 unhealthiest cities in the U.S. 1. Brownsville, Texas 2. Laredo, Texas 3. Augusta, Ga. 4. Shreveport, La. 5. Gulfport, Miss. 6. Fort Smith, Ark. 7. Detroit 8. Jackson, Miss. 9. Corpus Christi, Texas 10. Memphis, Tenn. n Northwell rolls out one-of-a-kind flu tracker for Long Island, NYC By Brian Zimmerman G reat Neck, N.Y.-based Northwell Health established a one-of-a-kind bio- surveillance system to track the large number of flu patients presenting at Northwell hospitals in Long Island and New York City. The biosurveillance dashboard allows Northwell to track flu cases at integrated hospitals to more efficiently manage the distribution of resources, such as antivi- ral medications, rapid-flu tests, masks and gloves. The dashboard also allows the health system to make informed decisions about where to funnel additional staff members and where to house flu patients throughout the hospital. "The new flu surveillance dashboard gives Northwell the ability to see what's going on in near real-time," said Mark Swensen, an emergency management coordinator at Northwell who helped develop the system. "This is an important tool that helps us in terms of planning and managing patient care." The surveillance system allows Northwell to track both the number of positive flu deaths and the number of patients who present at hospitals with flu-like symp- toms. In the future, the surveillance system will be used to track the spread of infectious disease beyond flu, enabling Northwell to better respond to public health crises and coordinate efforts with state, local and federal health officials. As of Feb. 6, 12 Northwell hospitals adopted the tracking system and treated 10,500 patients with flu-like symptoms. Five more of the health system's acute- care hospitals are poised to link up with the tracking system in the coming months. As of Feb. 1, the CDC reported the third highest rate of flu-related hospitaliza- tions recorded in the last 15 years. n On-call medical worker runs half a mile to help save a patient's life after a flat tire By Alia Paavola P aula Weatherley, a cardiac catheterization laboratory supervisor, was driving to Conway (Ark.) Regional Hospital after being called in at 3 a.m. Feb. 17 to help perform a life-saving procedure when she got a flat tire. Instead of stopping to change the tire, she ran more than half a mile to the hospital, reported WCNC. Ms. Weatherley was called into Conway Regional to help with a patient who was being airlifted to the hospital after suffering from a heart attack. On her drive to the hospital, Ms. Weatherley hit a piece of metal, which blew out her tire. Immediately, she jumped out of her car and ran to the hospital. She knew the time it would take to call for help or change the tire could mean the difference between life and death for the patient. "[I] decided that I just had to jump out, put my purse and coat on, and run so I could beat the patient here," Ms. Weatherley told WCNC. She ran more than half a mile and beat the patient there. "I sat down, caught my breath, and about two minutes after that the patient rolled through the door from Air Evac and we got started," Ms. Weatherley said, according to the report. The patient survived and Ms. Weatherley received an award at work for her efforts. n