Health in Hearst · CCHS 2023/2024, Statistics Canada
Hearst’s region trails the typical Canadian town by 4.2 years: life expectancy 77.3
The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 48%, behind the 51% for Ontario. Closer to home, a hospital is just 1.4 km from the average resident of Hearst, nearer than the usual 3.7 km. Hearst grades C for health, #790 of 866 in Ontario and #2,270 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
Around Hearst, 12% of adults smoke daily, part of a smoking rate higher than most Canadian towns’ regions. Conditions and habits ↓
Pharmacies far off
The nearest pharmacy on OpenStreetMap is 95 km from the average home in Hearst, so prescriptions mean a drive. Getting care ↓
Hospital care on the doorstep
Few Canadian towns live as close to a hospital as Hearst; from its centre of population the trip is 1.1 km. Getting care ↓
Survey and life expectancy: the health region (Statistics Canada). Distances and deprivation: the town’s own areas.
Health Grade
Hearst grades C for health
Each input ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more: the region’s four, the town’s distance to a hospital.
Very good or excellent health (48%)Better than 28% of Canadian towns
Chronic conditions (18%)Better than 35% of Canadian towns
Smokers (16%)Better than 24% of Canadian towns
Life expectancy (77.3)Better than 9% of Canadian towns
Distance to a hospital (1.4 km)Better than 90% of Canadian towns
The region’s four figures and the town’s distance to a hospital are each ranked against Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, then averaged. Its place: #790 of 866 in Ontario and #2,270 of 2,583 Canadian towns.
How the grade works
Health is graded as a regional score, labelled as such: very good or excellent self-rated health, chronic conditions (arthritis, diabetes and high blood pressure averaged) and smoking from the Canadian Community Health Survey, each age-standardised so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, and life expectancy at birth, all for the health region. The residents’ average distance to a hospital is the one input measured for the town itself, so towns in one region can still differ.
Conditions and habits
High blood pressure for 23% of adults in the region, diabetes for 12%
Long-term conditions and habits as the region’s adults reported them; the tick marks the province.
Conditions and weight · 2023/2024
High blood pressure
23%
Arthritis
24%
Diabetes
12%
Obese (self-reported)
45%
Mood disorder
18%
Anxiety disorder
16%
Habits · 2023/2024
Smoke daily or now and then
16%
Smoke every day
12%
Heavy drinking
29%
Ontario
Obesity runs higher than in the province, at 45% of adults against 30% for Ontario. Heavy drinking runs above the province, 29% to 17%.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (table 13-10-0972), as published, not adjusted for age; obesity from reported height and weight. The anxiety disorder figure is the 2021/2022 estimate: Statistics Canada found the latest too unreliable to publish here.
Getting care
From Hearst, a hospital is 1.4 km away on average
Straight-line distances from each part of Hearst, weighted by who lives there.
Hospital
1.4 km
residents’ average distance
the typical Canadian town: 3.7 km
Clinic
181 km
community health centre or clinic, residents’ average
Pharmacy
95 km
residents’ average distance
0.0 within 3 km of a typical home
More than 30 km from a hospital
0%
share of residents
Emergency
911
police, fire, ambulance; 811 for health advice in most provinces
Residents of Hearst are closer than most of the province: the typical town in Ontario is 3.3 km from a hospital, the typical Canadian town 3.7 km.
Deprivation predicts less: the region outlives the trend by 1.3 years
The comparison runs between 102 health regions, each shared by its towns; Hearst’s region’s dot is above the line.
Situational vulnerability: residents’ average quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprivedLife expectancy at birth (years)
Deprivation explains much of the gap between regions (correlation −0.83 over 102 of them), yet Hearst’s region beats it: 77.3 years against the 76.0 the trend gives a score of 4.3. It is outlived by 6 of the 10 regions nearest it on the index, whose median is 78.5 years.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, 2022/2024, by health region. Deprivation: Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation 2021 (situational vulnerability), averaged over each region’s towns by their residents; income: 2021 Census median household income, averaged the same way. The averages and the line are TownRatings calculations.
The wider area
How the 34 health regions in Ontario compare on life expectancy
What Statistics Canada publishes above the town: life expectancy for each health region in Ontario, and the deprivation index for the town’s own areas.
77.3
years at birth, 2022/2024
18.2
more years expected at 65
31st
longest of 34 regions in Ontario
Life expectancy at birth by health region · 2022/2024
York Regional Health Unit86.3
Peel Regional Health Unit85.3
Halton Regional Health Unit84.9
City of Toronto Health Unit84.7
City of Ottawa Health Unit83.7
Waterloo Health Unit82.8
Durham Regional Health Unit82.6
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit82.4
Middlesex-London Health Unit81.9
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit81.8
Huron Perth Health Unit81.7
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit81.5
Grey Bruce Health Unit81.3
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit81.3
City of Hamilton Health Unit81.2
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit81.2
Niagara Regional Area Health Unit81.2
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit81.0
Renfrew County and District Health Unit81.0
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit81.0
Oxford Elgin St. Thomas Health Unit80.6
Peterborough County—City Health Unit80.5
Brant County Health Unit80.4
Lambton Health Unit80.0
North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit80.0
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit79.8
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit79.6
Sudbury and District Health Unit79.1
Chatham-Kent Health Unit78.6
The District of Algoma Health Unit77.9
Porcupine Health Unit77.3
Timiskaming Health Unit77.0
Thunder Bay District Health Unit76.5
Northwestern Health Unit73.7
Life expectancy in Ontario runs from 73.7 to 86.3; this region sits 31st of the 34.
Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation · national quintile, 1 least to 5 most deprived
Residential instability3.2
Economic dependency3.3
Ethno-cultural composition1.5
Situational vulnerability3.2
These four scores average the national quintile of the areas where Hearst’s residents live; they carry no weight in the grade.
Life expectancy: Statistics Canada table 13-10-0988, three-year estimate 2022/2024, by health region.
Health survey
48% in the region call their health very good or excellent, fewer than in Ontario (51%)
The survey’s answers for the region as given, each beside the province’s (the tick).
Share of adults, as answered · 2023/2024
Health very good or excellent
48%
Health fair or poor
22%
Mental health very good or excellent
46%
Mental health fair or poor
23%
Most days quite a bit stressful
24%
Strong sense of belonging
60%
Satisfied with life
83%
Ontario
Mental health looks weaker than in the province: 46% rate it very good or excellent, against 51% in Ontario, and 24% find most days quite stressful.
Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 (Statistics Canada table 13-10-0972), adults 18 and over, as published.
Towns its size
Closer to a hospital than most towns its size: Hearst comes 9th of 40
The 40 Canadian towns nearest its population (4,960 to 5,106 people), nearest a hospital first; their median is 2.8 km.
The region’s very good or excellent health column is regional: towns in one region share it.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
Deprivation is context. The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (2021) is context, never graded, and the territories have none.
•
Who the survey asks. People on reserves and in institutions, full-time military members and the residents of Nunavik and Eeyou Istchee aren’t interviewed by the survey.
•
Adjusted for age. The grade’s three survey shares are age-standardised to Canada’s adults, so an older region isn’t marked down for age alone, while the survey charts show answers as given.
•
What counts as a hospital. Facility locations come from Statistics Canada’s open database; records without coordinates sit at their postal code, and not every hospital has an emergency room.
•
Distances are straight lines. Each small census area is measured as the crow flies to the nearest facility and weighted by its 2021 residents, so real trips run longer.
•
Regional figures. Only the distances on this page belong to Hearst alone, because the health survey and life expectancy come for the whole health region.
Questions about health in Hearst
What is the life expectancy in Hearst?
There is no figure for Hearst alone; its health region’s is 80.1 for women and 74.6 for men in 2022/2024.
How is Hearst’s Health Grade worked out?
Not yet: Health will weigh the region’s survey and life expectancy and Hearst’s distance to a hospital against the typical Canadian town once Canada’s grading run happens.
How healthy is Hearst?
The region trails the typical Canadian town on each of its four survey and life-expectancy figures. The three chronic conditions the grade counts average 18% of adults.
How far is Hearst from a hospital?
A clinic is 181 km from the average resident of Hearst and a pharmacy 95 km, as the crow flies.
Photo: Hearst1958 · CC BY-SA 4.0