OBJECTIVES: In this study we performed congestive heart failure (CHF) gap analysis for the residents of Lake county, IL based on the hospital discharge data  collected between 2001- 2009. METHODS: The hospital discharge data between 2001-2009 for primary diagnosis of CHF was analyzed. All patients (<4 yr to > 85yr) were categorized in 10 age groups and comparative analysis was performed. Patient cases for systolic and diastolic CHF were identified using ICD-9 codes for systolic and diastolic heart failures. RESULTS: N= 827,355 discharge records were screened. Overall there were N=15299 cases that were discharged with the primary diagnosis of systolic CHF reflecting a crude rate of 1.8 %.  The reported rate by the AHQR for state of IL in 2006 was 501.9 +/- 2.2 cases. There were N=7851 female and N=7448 male cases. Age adjusted rate per 100,000 patients was 956.06 +/- 0.09 cases.  There were N=1350 cases of diastolic heart failure i.e. an age adjusted rate of 71.48 +/- 2.24 cases (crude rate of 163.17 per 100,000).  Most often length of stays ranged from 2 to 5 days. Analysis of residential zip codes indicates one suburb with a high percentage of Hispanics and blacks with the highest reported cases (Waukegan= 1557 cases). The overall age adjusted systolic CHF rate in Waukegan was 1313.35 +/- 36.47 cases per 100,000 which is significantly greater than the average calculated rate for residents of Lake County [OR=1.38 (1.30-1.47), P<0.0001]  CONCLUSIONS: Lake County data suggest a higher rate of age-adjusted discharge rate for CHF in parts of Lake county, IL, USA with a high % of Hispanic and black population.