Collier community health focus group comes Thursday to Immokalee

 What is your overall assessment of the physical and mental health in Collier County? 

Does the county have enough primary care? Enough pediatric care? Enough dental care? Can people afford medical care in Collier County. Are the rates of alcoholism and drug abuse too high? Do enough opportunities exist in Collier County for adequate nutrition? For physical exercise? Is adequate mental health care provided? 

The answers - or, at least, the public's perception of the answers to these and many other questions - are currently being sought by the Collier County Health Department is a series of public meetings. 

The Immokalee meeting is set for July 26, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Collier County Health Department's Immokalee office, 419 North First Street. Dr. Joan Colfer, county health director, will be present along with many on her staff. 

Collier County was recently ranked the 4th healthiest county in Florida in 2012 by the University of Wisconsin in a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Only Seminole, Sarasota and St. John's counties were ranked as being healthier places in which to live. 

The ranking not only takes into consideration the quality of medical care but also factors in crime rates, educational opportunities, employment and poverty rates. It also factors in a community's healthy behaviors such as exercising, eating healthy, driving safely, avoiding use of tobacco and drinking responsibly.

Call the Collier County Health Department, 239-252-8200, or the Immokalee office, 239-252-7300, for more information about the Thursday meeting.