BRIEFS: Gauging S.C.’s health; Statue of Hollings to be unveiled

Study shows urban areas in S.C. healthier than rural

Staff reports  |  The state’s healthiest place in terms of health outcomes and factors is Beaufort County, according to newly-published data at CountyHealthRankings.org.  At the bottom?  Marlboro County in the Pee Dee.

In general, it’s clear from maps in the study that urban areas tend to be healthier than those that are more rural.

The rankings, offered as a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, offers a look at two kinds of data:  Health factors and health outcomes.  Results for health factors gauge weighted measures of social and economic demographics, health behaviors like smoking, obesity and physical inactivity as well as how people interact with health care providers.  Health outcomes are based on measures related to length and quality of life.

• To see the results, click here.

Healthy outcome rankings for S.C. counties

1. Beaufort
2. Dorchester
3. York
4. Charleston
5. Greenville

42. Darlington
43. Dillon
44. Williamsburg
45. Marion
46. Marlboro

Health factor rankings

1. Beaufort
2. Greenville
3. Charleston
4. York
5. Lexington

42. Lee
43. Dillon
44. Marion
45. Allendale
46. Marlboro

Statue of Hollings to be unveiled April 17

Former Vice President Joe Biden will be on hand 2 p.m. April 17 in Charleston for remarks at an unveiling ceremony and dedication of a statue honoring former U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings.

The event will occur in the garden of the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center in Charleston with a reception to follow.  Others scheduled to speak include U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley and current Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg, who ran Hollings’ 1998 campaign.

The statue, commissioned last year and paid for with private donations, will be a visible reminder of Hollings’ long public service as a soldier in World War Two, state legislator, lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator.

In 2015, Hollings urged the federal government to rename the judicial annex, originally named for him, to honor Waring, a courageous federal judge.  At the time, Graham said, ““The request to rename the center came as a personal request from Senator Hollings, and I think it speaks volumes about his character and leadership.”

• To hear Hollings discuss the name change, click here to listen to a 2015 speech.