Officials hear health statistics

Quay County commissioners learned during their meeting Friday from state Department of Health officials that Quay County saw an increase in teen obesity, suicides and adult non-vaccination rates but also experienced a decline in diabetes, teen pregnancy, overdose deaths, alcohol-related deaths, smoking and fall-related deaths to senior citizens.

Francisco Porres, epidemiologist for the Department of Health, gave a PowerPoint presentation of health trends in Quay County and how it compared to the U.S., state and the agency’s Southeast region, which includes Curry, Roosevelt, Lea, Lincoln, De Baca, Eddie and Chaves counties.

Deborah Gentry, a Department of Health educator based in Portales, also weighed in with her observations.

Some of the Quay County findings, which were calculated during a period from 2011 to 2014-2017:

• High-school students who were obese rose from 14.1% to 22.5%. Gentry said that data reflected schools that had dropped physical-education programs and children who spent more time playing computer games than going outdoors.

• Adults who had pneumonia or influenza vaccinations decreased. Commissioner Franklin McCasland said the agency had stopped offering vaccinations a few years ago, which might account for the lower rate. Gentry also said it reflects rising general anti-vaccination sentiment.

• Alcohol-related death rates were the worst in the region except for Lincoln County, although the rate is falling significantly. In an answer to a question from county manager Richard Primrose, Porres said those deaths were actual Quay County residents and not nonresident travelers on Quay County roads and highways.

• It has the highest rate of gonorrhea in the Southeast region and a high rate of chlamydia, both which are sexually transmitted diseases. Gentry said her agency offers condoms and birth control for free to anyone over 13. She said many school districts are reluctant to let Department of Health officials teach such sex education in schools because some interpret such efforts as an endorsement of sexual activity. She said sexual-abstinence programs do not work, however.

• The county’s suicide rate of 33.2 per 100,000 people was the highest in the Southeast region and higher than any New Mexico county except Taos and Sierra.

• Life expectancy in Quay County fell from 76 to 74 years of age.

The health information for Quay County wasn’t all bad:

• The rate of deaths from falls by senior citizens was among the lowest in the region and saw a large decrease in a six-year period. Commissioner Sue Dowell attributed that to the county’s health programs, including anti-fall seminars.

• Drug overdose deaths fell from a rate of 28.6 per 100,000 to 6.7.

• Teenage pregnancies fell from 102.6 per 1,000 girls to 43.3.

• The adult diabetes diagnosis rate fell from 19.7% to 7.9%.

• The adult obesity rate fell from 44.9% to 31.4%.

• The percentage of adults who smoke cigarettes fell from 43.5% to 24.6%. The percentage does not account for e-cigarettes, Porres said.

• The percentage of adults who couldn’t get health care because of cost fell from 30.9% to 15.1%.

• The county’s percentages of low birth weights is the lowest in the region and is lower than the U.S. average.

In other business, the commission:

• Approved County Clerk Ellen White’s resolution to approve polling places for 2020 to 2021. White said one significant change is Forrest and Nara Visa precincts will go to mail-in voting, saving the county about $2,400 in costs for precinct workers, technical support and equipment. White said most voters in the Forrest and Nara Visa precincts already had voted absentee.

• Heard an annual gross receipts report from Primrose, who said its revenue rose 13% in the past fiscal year. He attributed that to construction of a new U.S. 54 bridge in Logan. Primrose said about 20% of the past year’s gross receipts funds came from construction projects; the portion sometimes was half of that in previous years.

• Approved a wildlife-services agreement in 2020 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for feral hog and coyote control. The annual cost is $39,000, with $4,000 donated from county ranchers to help defray a part of it.

• Approved a New Mexico Department of Transportation grant agreement of $1,900 so the sheriff’s department can buy portable breathalyzers.

n Approved budget adjustments recommended by county finance director Cheryl Simpson to reflect a $150,000 firetruck purchase for the Bard-Endee Fire District and moving $1,000 of cash on hand to the misdemeanor court compliance fund so it would avoid a deficit.

• Heard from Commissioner Sue Dowell, who found out from a conference the state is considering moving uncontested probate cases to district court. That idea raised the ire of McCasland, who said probate cases would be tied up for weeks or months longer on a district-court docket.

• Approved the annual certification for the Community Development Block Grant program.

• Approved $551.32 in claims submitted in May and June to the Indigent Claims Board.