STRANGE OVERLAPS

The highest diabetes counties are the ones without a hospital

Sort every county with a CDC PLACES diabetes estimate into five equal groups of 588. In the lowest diabetes fifth, 14.3% of counties have no acute care or critical access hospital beds inside the county line. In the highest fifth, 41.5% have none, 2.9 times the rate.

Average adult diabetes prevalence runs from 10.2% in the lowest fifth to 17.8% in the highest. Obesity runs alongside it, 32.7% to 41.7%. Median hospital beds per 100,000 residents in the highest fifth is 103, against 134 to 151 in the other four.

The buyer for anything that manages a chronic condition at the bedside is, in the highest risk counties, more often than not somewhere else. The nearest hospital is in the next county, and so is the account.

Confounder noted: Population. Median county population is 74,125 in the lowest diabetes fifth and 15,710 in the highest. Small rural counties carry both the higher diabetes rate and the higher odds of having no hospital at all. Pooled across residents instead of counties, the highest fifth has the most beds per 100,000, 217 against 177 in the lowest, because its people cluster in the few counties that do have a hospital. This is a county count story, not a per resident shortage story. Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Kentucky are excluded: the CDC file carries no diabetes estimate for them, or no county units.

ProxiSuite analysis of CDC PLACES county estimates; CMS Care Compare hospital snapshot (acute care and critical access hospitals, bed counts summed by county). PA, CT, KY, DC and territories excluded.The Proximity Report

Cite this: The highest diabetes counties are the ones without a hospital, ProxiSuite (2026), based on CDC PLACES county estimates; CMS Care Compare hospital snapshot (acute care and critical access hospitals, bed counts summed by county). PA, CT, KY, DC and territories excluded. https://proxisuite.com/report/diabetes-counties-no-hospital.html

ProxiSuite is not endorsed by or affiliated with any government agency. Analysis based on public federal data.

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