Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. U.S. News & World Report recently issued its latest “Best States” rankings, and Indiana comes in at #33. Of the eight categories measured to calculate this ranking, Indiana’s outcomes in Health Care (#40) and Quality of Life (#48) are the biggest drag on our state’s performance. When it comes to assessing our public health outcomes, Indiana fares worst on the following key metrics: infant mortality (#42), smoking (#41) and obesity (#40). A closer look at the infant mortality rate shows that key drivers of infant mortality – defined as the death of a child under one year […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Yesterday the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced its plan to make its grandstands completely smoke-free starting this fall. We applaud IMS President Doug Boles and Hulman & Company President and CEO Mark D. Miles for their bold leadership when it comes to protecting the health of Hoosiers and IMS fans from across the globe. A study released by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation last September showed that Indiana’s tobacco epidemic – an often-overlooked issue – costs our state more than 12,000 lives and $6.8 billion annually. And a report we released earlier this month found that Hoosier smokers […]