News

Health rankings a tool for growth

By Keith Whitcomb Jr. [email protected]
It’s always nice when others say something good about you, and when you’re a small, rural state trying to draw new residents, it’s important to highlight it when that happens, according to Vermont’s tourism and marketing commissioner.

On Monday, Gov. Phil Scott’s office touted that, once again, Vermont was ranked as the healthiest state by the United Health Foundation in its 30th annual America’s Health Rankings report.

United Health Foundation is a foundation of the Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group, according to the latter’s website. The foundation works to improve medical care.

“Anytime we have that third-party validation in terms of what we anecdotally know to be true, it’s helpful in how we tell our story,” said Heather Pelham, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, in a Tuesday interview.

“The thinkvermont.com website is our main vehicle for attracting potential residents to the state and we do have a section on there about health and community life,” Pelham said. “That’s certainly one place we will use a great national ranking like the one Vermont received recently, being the healthiest state in the nation.”

The foundation’s report can be found at bit.ly/1210health. Vermont is No. 1, followed by Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut and Utah. The least healthy state is Mississippi. Vermont’s neighbors, New York and New Hampshire, are ranked 11th and sixth respectively.

“On the Think Vermont site, we also include other rankings. Looking for those third-party accolades we feel is a strong way to tell our story,” said Pelham.

The state website bit.ly/1210rankings notes not just state accolades, but recognition given to entities such as the University of Vermont, Norwich University, Vermont Tech and others.

America’s Health Rankings look not just at rates of disease, but social and economic factors that can affect health, such as access to healthy food, outdoor and recreation opportunities, crime rates and quality of life criteria. Pelham said because of this, the health rankings are a useful tool in attracting people interested in those aspects of life.

She said surveys conducted through the Stay To Stay Program and the Remote Worker Grant Program, show people wanting to move to Vermont are mainly interested in having a safe place to live and raise their families, and having access to the outdoors and recreational opportunities.

“That, together, really fills in that quality-of-life piece that we feel is essential to the Vermont experience and is what our current residents enjoy,” she said. “It’s what we’re looking for to promote to future residents.”

She said whenever something like the health rankings gets released, the department leans on its Digital Ambassador Program to help spread the word. The program coordinates Vermonters with a social media presence to share bits of good news about the state.

“If we do have a piece of good news like this, we’ll create a social media post and other folks can be part of that ambassador network to help spread the word to anyone they might be connected to,” she said.

Mary Cohen, executive director of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce, said people thinking about moving here generally fall into two broad categories: people looking for outdoor recreation and people who are simply tired of city life. Given what United Health Foundation’s rankings look at, it’s a useful tool for attracting either of those demographics.

Neighboring chambers agree.

Mike Coppinger, executive director of the Killington Pico Area Association, said Tuesday that factors highlighted in the foundation’s rankings are among the top five reasons people move to Vermont.

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