Healthy communities are built on a foundation of healthy children, youth and adults.
In this section, we highlight the trends several indicators: 1) individuals without health insurance; 2) early prenatal care; 3) low birth rate and; 4) infant mortality.
In all cases, comparisons to state statistics reflect the state excluding New York City.
Overview
About 8% of Ulster residents lacked health insurance in 2015. Rates of early prenatal care varied by racial and ethnic group, and low birth weight babies and infant mortality rates have fluctuated up and down over the past 15 years but overall been close to state averages. Less people are living with HIV and AIDS along with fewer visits to mental health clinics.
Access to Care
In 2015, 8% of Ulster County residents under age 65 lacked health insurance, higher than the region and state rate (7% and 6% respectively), but below the nation (11%).
Healthy Start
Early prenatal care varied among racial and ethnic groups in Ulster, similar to statewide trends. In 2014, 81% of white mothers in Ulster received early prenatal care, compared to 67% of Hispanic mothers and 66% of African American mothers. Rates for most racial/ethnic groups in Ulster were below state rates.
The rate of low birth weight babies in Ulster County were above the region and state. In 2014, 7.9% of babies born in Ulster had low birth weights, above the 6.2% in 2000 and the second highest rate in the region. Since 2000, Ulster has averaged 7.0% low weight babies, below the state’s 7.6% average.
Ulster County’s infant mortality rate has fluctuated since 2000, surpassing the rates for the region and state for some years. In 2014, there were 3.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, below the region (5.4) and state (5.1). Infant mortality since 2000 has averaged 5.6 similar with the state’s average over that time period.
Health Challenges
The rate of people living with HIV has decreased since 2002 in Ulster, to 84 per 100,000 residents in 2014. This compared to 87 in the region and 82 in the state. The rate has decreased by 22% in Ulster since 2002, similar to regional trends.
Ulster County’s rate of people living with AIDS declined from 2002. In 2014, 131 people per 100,000 were living with AIDS in Ulster, a 4% decrease from 2002. Ulster had the highest rate in the region (126) and the state (110).
The rate of mental health clinic visits in Ulster declined over the decade. There were 5.2 mental health clinic visits per 1,000 residents in Ulster in 2015. Ulster’s rates have consistently fallen between the rates of Dutchess and Orange, but Ulster had the second largest rate of decline at 22% since 2001.
