The Foundation for Healthy Communities has always emphasized prevention and health improvement. For the past decade, it has focused on societal issues and finding solutions before a community health crisis occurs. Unfortunately, the crisis has arrived.

Health care costs continue to rise. In 2004, for the fourth straight year, they jumped more than 10% in 2004. The average American has bore more of the brunt of these increases through higher out-of-pocket costs, including increased premiums, deductibles and co-pays. For both large and small businesses, health care costs continue to be a serious drag on their competitiveness.

At the same time, the number of Americans lacking health insurance has climbed to more than 45 million in 2003, a 13 percent increase from 2000.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 70 percent of all premature deaths in the U.S. are due to individual behaviors and environmental factors. These include tobacco use, lack of physical activity and poor diet resulting in obesity. Compared to other states, Ohio ranks among the worst for adults who smoke, are physically inactive, have unhealthy diets and are overweight. The treatment of illness related to obesity costs America $93 billion annually, which is 9 percent of health expenditures.

Health care workers are working hard, individual-by-individual and hospital-by-hospital, to ensure they are the role models for wellness and individual health management.