Glendale has more smokers, more breast-cancer deaths than the county average, study shows
People living in Glendale and nearby communities are more likely to be smokers, die from breast cancer or have difficulty getting access to healthcare services when compared to L.A. County averages, according to recent findings by a nonprofit study.
The data was presented to about 50 healthcare professionals gathered at Glendale Adventist Medical Center on Tuesday who will help prioritize a Community Health Needs Assessment to address the biggest health issues in the area.
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Nonprofit hospitals are required to put together an assessment every three years, and it ultimately dictates how resources can be directed, said Maura Harrington, vice president of consulting and chief operating officer for the Center of Nonprofit Management, which is compiling the report.
Locally, the assessment will impact the three main hospitals in Glendale: Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Dignity Health Glendale Memorial and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital.
Harrington presented a list of illnesses and healthcare issues, including that 11.7% of adults living in the service area of Glendale Adventist in 2014 — not those who were necessarily treated there — are smokers. The county average is 10%.
That figure for adults living in the service area of Glendale Memorial was 12%, while it was 11.6% for USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, according to the presentation.
Service areas are composed of the Zip Codes immediately adjacent to each hospital.
Theresa Murphy, chief nursing officer at USC Verdugo Hills, said smoking is one of the top issues she’d like to deal with down the road.
It may be time to start offering smoking-cessation support groups, she said.
“We have a health fair coming up. One possibility would be to have a booth to talk about smoking cessation and connect people with cessation resources,” Murphy said. “That’s one idea we would consider.”
Another key statistic that stood out for some was breast cancer rates.
Figures from 2008 showed that 29 out of 100,000 women with breast cancer in Glendale Adventist’s service area died, while the mortality rates were 26 and 30 for Glendale Memorial and USC Verdugo Hills, respectively, according to the findings.
The county average is 21 deaths in 100,000.
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That raised concerns from some at the meeting, and led to even more questions for Julianne Hines, vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley.
“When you look at breast cancer [death] rates, they’re pretty dramatic and so that was surprising,” she said. “I would like to see how that compares to more of a little bit of a larger geographic swath and to look around at what environmental factors could be contributing to breast cancer rates in this region.”
In addition, 19.6% of adults living in Glendale Adventist’s service area in 2014 were uninsured compared to the 16% county average, according to the findings.
The adult uninsured figure for the service areas of Glendale Memorial was 21%, while it was 17.4% for USC Verdugo Hills, the data showed.
But there were some positive statistics as well.
The diabetes-diagnosis rates in the service areas for all three hospitals were on par with the county’s average of 9.7% of residents, and obesity rates were nearly 3% lower than the county average, according to the data.
Harrington said the first draft of the report will likely be ready in July and will rely on additional data pooled from local hospitals.
Bruce Nelson, director of community services at Glendale Adventist, said the finalized assessment will be used in a proactive manner between the three hospitals as well as many nonprofits that specialize in areas such as mental healthcare.
“We’ll be able to share information more effectively … We’ll move forward in the future with a plan to share the information together,” he said. “[The assessment] helps us identify where the needs are and then concentrate our efforts on how to respond to them.”
Cassie McCarty, director of mission integration and spiritual services at Glendale Memorial, agreed, saying this assessment is something that brings the medical community together.
“It’s not just about one hospital or the other, it’s really about impacting the community in a positive way with respect to health,” she said.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
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