The San Juan River is a 383 mile long major tributary of the Colorado River and a primary drainage for the Four Corners.
Shiprock (Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings") is a 27 million year old volcanic rock formation, designated as a National Natural Landmark, rising 1,583 feet above the desert.
The eggs and hoodoos in the Bisti Wilderness were formed in sand and silt revealed 73 million years ago when the Western Interior Seaway receded.
Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (Bisti Badlands) is a 45,000-acre wilderness area full of rock formations made of sandstone, shale, mudstone, and silt.
Angel Peak Scenic Area is located 15 miles south of Bloomfield in San Juan County, with over 10,000 acres of rugged terrain, badlands and deep canyons.
The La Plata Mountains, seen from San Juan County, are a small subrange of the San Juan Mountains in sw Colorado, and includes Hesperus Mountain at 13,332 feet.
Navajo Lake is a 3800 feet long and 400 feet deep reservoir located in northeastern San Juan County, created from a dam completed in 1962.
The Aztec Ruins National Monument, on 318 acres, consists of dwellings and sacred structures built by Ancient Pueblo Indians in the 12th and 13th Centuries.

Health & Access to Care

Health & Wellness

Self-Rated Health

Self-reported health is an indicator of quality of life. On the BRFSS, CDC's telephone survey with adults, respondents are asked, "Would you say that in general your health is Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair or Poor?"

In San Juan County in 2021, 19.8% rated their health as "Fair" or "Poor," compared to 18.1% across New Mexico and 14.8% across the U.S.

The survey also asks, “Thinking about your physical health, which includes physical illness and injury, for how many days during the past 30 days was your physical health not good?” In San Juan County, 11.9% reported that 14 or more days were "not good," compared to 10.9% across New Mexico and the U.S.

Self-Rated Health as "Fair" or "Poor"
Frequent Physical Distress
14 or more days "not good"
Physically

Self-Rated Health - Race/Ethnicity and Sex

The graph below shows self-rated "fair" or "poor" health by race/ethnicity and by sex.

Barriers to Accessing Health Care

Lack of health insurance is a significant barrier to obtaining health care. There has been considerable improvement in health insurance coverage. Lack of insurance decreased from 25.6% in 2014, to the current 9.9% (2021). San Juan County's uninsured rates are consistently higher than New Mexico and U.S. rates.

Other barriers include rates of not being able to access health care due to cost and not having a PCP or primary care provider.

Lack Health Insurance
(under age 65)
No Primary Care Provider
(BRFRSS, 2021)
Unable to get Care

Due to Cost
(2021, BRFSS)

Availability of Health Professionals

The rate of "full-time equivalent" (FTE) primary care physicians per 10,000 is an indicator of the availability of health professionals. As of 2020, San Juan County had 4.3 FTE physicians per 10,000, compared to 5.2 for New Mexico overall. San Juan County is ranked 18th among New Mexico's 33 counties. 

As of 2020, San Juan County had .5 FTE psychiatrists, compared to .7 overall for New Mexico. For this indicator, San Juan ranked 10th among New Mexico's 33 counties.
Self-ratings of Health and Barriers to Care: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), CDC. Retrieved from New Mexico's Indicator-Based Information System (NM-IBIS). https://ibis.doh.nm.gov/ 

Health Insurance Coverage: U.S. Bureau of the Census, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts

Availability of Health Care Professions:

NM Human Services Dept Databook: https://www.hsd.state.nm.us/2022-data-book/

See also County Health Rankings https://www.countyhealthrankings.org
Direct Link to Health Care Professions Data
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) volunteer telephone survey with adults across the U.S. These data area most readily available from New Mexico's Indicator-Based Information System (NM-IBIS). Additional information is available from the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/

5-year estimates are provided for Health Care Insurance. Note that most recent 2019 1-year ACS estimates are similar, with an estimated 13.9% uninsured.
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