A majority of Mid-Hudson Valley residents feel positively about the quality of health care services in their community although only 5% believe they are of excellent caliber. 41% rate these services as fair or poor.
Overall, there has been little change in the proportion
of residents who are satisfied with the quality of health care services
since 2002. A majority of residents both in 2002 and now assess health
care services in their community favorably. Similarly, in 2002, 39%
did not rate the quality of health care services positively compared
with 41% now.
There are, however, some noteworthy differences at the county level in residents’ evaluation of health care services in their community.
For instance, Columbia County residents’ opinions about their health care services have slightly declined. Although a majority of residents continue to feel positively about the quality of health care services in the community, the gap between those who have a favorable view and those who do not has closed. In 2002, six in ten people living in Columbia County were satisfied. 60% rated the quality of health care services favorably, and just 36% considered them to be fair or poor. Today, just 54% have a positive view and 45% do not.
Five years ago, 54% of Greene County residents considered local health care services to be of either fair or poor quality, and just 43% expressed a favorable opinion. Now, residents divide. Today, only a narrow four-point difference separates Greene County residents who rate these services as fair or poor, 50%, and those who have a positive impression of the health care services available to them, 46%.
There have been fewer changes elsewhere. Putnam County residents continue to be the most pleased. About two-thirds of county residents express satisfaction with the quality of health care services available to them. A majority of residents in Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster Counties also still rate the quality of health care services in their community favorably.
Residents of Sullivan County are less satisfied with the state of health care services in their community than other residents of the Mid-Hudson Valley. Over half of county residents rate these services as either fair or poor.
Like other Mid-Hudson Valley residents, just over half of those living in households with children feel positively about the quality of health care services in their community. Single parents, however, are much more critical of the services available to them. 53% do not rate them favorably. In fact, 21% of single parents specifically describe them as poor compared with only 13% of Mid-Hudson Valley residents in the region who share this view.
There is a relationship between residents’ impressions of the quality of health care services available to them and their income. Only 45% of residents with an annual household income below $30,000 rate health care services in their area favorably while 58% of those with higher income feel positively about the services available to them.
In 2002, nearly six out of ten
African American residents believed health care services in their community
were only of fair or poor quality.This
was in contrast to the majority of white residents or Latino residents who
rated the services available to them positively.There has been a change over the past five
years.White residents continue to be
more satisfied with the health care services available to them than African
American residents but the difference in opinion is no longer as glaring.Today, exactly half of African Americans feel
positively about their local health care services, and 45% rate them as fair or
poor.
However, Latinos’ opinions about health care services have declined considerably since 2002. Five years ago, just 37% of Latinos considered these services to be fair or poor. Today, over half of all Latino residents rate the health care services available to them as only fair or poor, a considerable shift in opinion from the previous survey.
Five years ago, households that experienced gaps in their health care coverage were divided in their opinions about the health care services available to them. The scale has since tilted. Now, a majority of residents without continuous health insurance do not have a positive view of the health care services available in their area.
Senior citizens are generally pleased with the health care services available to them. About six out of ten rate health care services as at least good. Senior citizens who have a disability closely mirror the overall senior population in their positive assessments of local health care services.
Residents under the age of
sixty-five with a disability feel less positively than residents in their age
group as a whole.While 55% of all
residents under sixty-five are generally satisfied with the quality of the
health care services in their community just 45% of residents in this age group
with a disability share this view.In
fact, a majority of residents under the age of sixty five with a disability
rates the services available to them as just fair or poor.
In fact, a majority of residents under the age of sixty five with a disability rates the services available to them as just fair or poor.
