Nation’s Healthiest State

Mississippi Repeats its Last Place Finish

LAWRENCE, KS. Vermont, famous for its scenic beauty, country inns and maple syrup, now has yet another claim to fame. Morgan Quitno Press, a Lawrence, Kansas-based independent research and publishing company, today declared Vermont the winner of its 2001 Healthiest State Award. Bringing up the less healthy end of the state rankings scale was Mississippi for the second year in a row.

"For eight of the nine years we have issued the Healthiest State Award, Vermont has ranked among the top six states," said Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press. “This year, the Green Mountain State finally beat out its sister states and moves into first place as the nation’s Healthiest State.”

The ninth annual Healthiest State Award is based on 21 health-related factors from Health Care State Rankings, an annual reference book that compares the 50 United States in more than 500 health care categories. The 2001 edition of Health Care State Rankings was published in April. Factors considered include infant mortality rates, the percent of population not covered by health insurance, per capita expenditures for health care, percent of population lacking access to primary medical care, childhood immunization rates, and percent of adults who smoke.

"Our award reflects which states’ citizens have the best access to health care providers, affordable health care services and a generally healthy population," Morgan said. "To borrow its slogan, Vermont is just plain healthy! The state has the nation’s lowest teen birth rate, the highest childhood vaccination rate and excellent access to primary care physicians. Conversely, Mississippi contends with the highest infant mortality rate, the highest teen birth rate and the highest percentage of population lacking access to primary care physicians.”

Following Vermont were Minnesota in second place, New Hampshire in third, Hawaii in fourth and Iowa in fifth. Bringing up the end of the rankings scale were Mississippi in last place, South Carolina in 49th, Louisiana in 48th, Alabama in 47th and Nevada in 46th place.

The Healthiest State Award is one of four designations announced annually by Morgan Quitno Press.  It is released in conjunction with the publication of the Health Care State Rankings reference book. The company's other annual announcements designate the nation’s Safest City and Metro Area, the Most Livable State and the Safest and Most Dangerous States. Each of these other awards and designations is based on data from annual Morgan Quitno reference publications.