Calhoun County lies in a swath of counties between Columbus and Albany that generally have poor health statistics.

Recently, when the county’s only hospital closed, it was a blow not just to local health care but also to economic development there.

In a new Commentary, Charles Hayslett, manager of Partner Up! for Public Health, writes that the poor health status of residents and lack of
access to health services in rural Georgia “constitute a major strategic threat to the economic prosperity of the entire state.’’

“State government needs, on some meaningful level, to integrate its health planning and economic development efforts (and, for that matter, education),’’ Hayslett writes.

Here is a link to his Commentary.

Georgia Health News welcomes Commentary submissions. If you would like to propose a Commentary piece for Georgia Health News, please email Andy Miller, editor of GHN, at amiller@georgiahealthnews.com