We’ve been processing Medical Marijuana Registration Cards for about a year and a half now. One of our primary goals from the start has been to try to build a true medical marijuana program. One of the keys is setting clear expectations for clinical assessment and medical record review by physicians before they sign a medical marijuana [...]
Our Vital Records shop does a lot more than manage the State’s birth and death certificate system (which we’ve been doing since 1885). We’re also an integral part of the Nation’s Vital Statistics System, which serves as the backbone of national data sharing in public health. The data collected under the National Vital Statistics System works [...]
One of our best Agency traditions has been our Christmas Angel program. Every year for the past 15 years our employees have been helping other Agency employees to make sure every kid in the ADHS family has something to open on Christmas morning. More than 230 angels were adopted from trees at the State Hospital and [...]
Every year about this time, we tally up the most popular baby names… and for the past few years, they haven’t changed much. Matter of fact, the top 8 girls names from 2010 are still in the top 8 this year – they’ve just changed places a bit. Sophia was number one this year and [...]
The tragedy in Connecticut has reminded us all about how important mental health and mental health treatment is to ensure that we have a society that functions in a way that we’d all like. To be truly effective, a behavioral and mental health system needs to make sure parents, teachers, doctors and emergency department staff, [...]
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices released issued new recommendations to encourage pregnant women to get the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine (Tdap) during their pregnancy. Since most kids get whooping cough from a close family member, vaccinating parents (and teens) is one of the best ways to prevent infants, especially those who are too young [...]
Back in 2009, AZ had the 9th highest rate of suicide in the U.S. In that year 1,060 Arizonans took their own lives- so it’s easy to see why suicide prevention is an agency priority and is featured in our Strategic Map as a Winnable Battle. Since we’re responsible for the state’s behavioral health system- [...]
The Arizona Biomedical Research Commission was created several years ago as a mechanism to fund biomedical research in Arizona. Core projects include research that digs into the causes, the epidemiology and diagnosis, the formulation of cures, the medically accepted treatment or the prevention of diseases, including new drug discovery and development. Funding comes from tobacco [...]
At the core- vaccines are really about community protection. Our public health system depends on a solid network of providers that are available to vaccinate kids for all of the nasty infectious diseases that have plagued humanity for millennium. It’s not just access to care and a solid network of providers that vaccinate that are [...]
Last week a Superior Court judge ordered Maricopa County to process the zoning paperwork that has been submitted by the applicant for the Sun City CHAA. The Maricopa County Attorney asked for a Stay of the decision while he appealed the case to the Court of Appeals. This morning, the Superior Court judge denied that request [...]
