A new study by the Trust for America's Health shows Ohio is ill-prepared for a potential healthcare emergency. Spokesperson Rich Hamburg says the "Ready or Not?" study evaluates all 50 states on ten key indicators for health preparedness.
Hamburg says Ohio gets good marks for its public health budget.
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Ohio also scored well for its accreditation of public health departments, reducing healthcare-related infections, and private-sector healthcare staff. The study gives Ohio poor marks for its climate change readiness. The study also shows Ohio lags behind more than half the states in its ability to respond to health threats. It says the state did not vaccinate at least half of its residents age 6 months or older for the flu from fall 2015 to spring 2016. The study also says public-health laboratories did not provide biosafety training from July 2015 to June 2016. The study was conducted in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.