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Health Conditions in North Tulsa Improve

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Life expectancy is one of the most fundamental measures of the health of a community, and where you live can determine how long you live.

In 2000, the life expectancy among Tulsa County residents varied by as much as 13.8 years: the life expectancy for residents of 74126 in north Tulsa was 66.8, compared to that of 74137 in south Tulsa, which boasted 80.6 years. 

“It’s harder to be healthy when you live in north Tulsa. Not only has this area of town experienced high rates of heart disease, stroke and cancer three times the national average, but they have also experienced lower life expectancy rates than others across Tulsa County,” said Dr. Gerard Clancy, University of Tulsa vice president of health affairs. “The grave health disparities that existed between the northern and southern regions of Tulsa were alarming.”

The Tulsa Health Department and several key partners recently completed a life expectancy analysis which applied best practice strategies to calculate the life expectancy at birth for residents of the 43 Tulsa County ZIP codes, specifically concentrating on 74126 and 74137 which had the most drastically different life expectancies. The study was funded in part by the George Kaiser Family Foundation and compared data from 2000-2002 to 2011-2013.

THD researchers found that in a rare turn of events, ZIP code 74126 experienced the greatest improvement in Tulsa County to narrow the gap to 10.7 years – experts say that is an impressive improvement in a relatively short amount of time.

“The narrowing of the life expectancy gap demonstrates that improvements in health are possible,” said Reggie Ivey, THD chief operating officer. “It’s been our goal to ensure that everyone across Tulsa has an equal opportunity to live a long and healthy life.”

In the last decade, public health officials, community partners, city leaders, philanthropists and universities have made great strides to increase access to health care in north Tulsa. Community health clinics, programming and resources are more accessible than ever before.