Saginaw County health leaders are joining forces to address serious health problems in the county.
Saginaw County ranks near the bottom of Michigan counties in a wide variety of health issues, including obesity, substance abuse and children’s health.
“People asked me during COVID and said ‘Why did Saginaw fair so bad?’”, said Christina Harrington, the Saginaw County Health Department health officer. “When you rate 76 out of 83 counties, you have some of the highest risk population. So we didn’t fare well.”
BWell Saginaw is a new trio of initiatives aimed at improving maternal health, chronic disease outcomes and mental health access.
Harrington says the hope is over time to raise Saginaw County into the top 25 of Michigan counties.
Dr. Delicia Pruitt is the Saginaw County medical director. She says the BWell Saginaw initiatives will include a focus on obesity and other children’s health problems.
“Left unchecked…this current generation of children may have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. And that is disturbing and troubling,” said Pruitt.
The plan calls for coalition partners, including local hospitals and universities, to form work groups to develop strategies to address Saginaw County’s pressing health needs and create action plans to utilize existing resources to make change.
