Registration is now open for the Arizona Public Health Association (AzPHA) 2015 Spring Conference. The conference titled: "It Starts Upstream: A Public Health Approach to Building a Healthy Future” will be held on Thursday, April 9, at the Phoenix Zoo. This year’s conference will feature panel discussions on the Social Determinants of Health and Nutrition [...]
In mid-December (2014) we awarded contracts for the Northern and Southern regions of the state to Health Choice Integrated Care (Northern AZ) and Cenpatico Integrated Care (in Southern AZ). On January 2nd United Healthcare filed a Protest with the ADHS for the award in Southern AZ, requesting an Emergency Stay and Administrative Hearing. Last month (January 21) we [...]
Stress can have a profound impact on health and affects your body, thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Symptoms like chronic headaches, insomnia, and lower productivity can be a direct result of stress. Being able to recognize common stress symptoms can give you a jump on managing them. Stress management is important, because, left unchecked, it can [...]
There has been tremendous progress in controlling Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa in the last month. New Ebola cases have fallen sharply in the last few weeks to fewer than 100 per week. For the week ending January 25, there were 4 new cases in Liberia, 30 in Guinea and 65 in Sierra Leone. At [...]
You might recall that a few weeks ago I approved American Medical Response’s (AMR Maricopa) application to operate ambulances in Maricopa County (called a Certificate of Necessity or CON). I approved the Certificate of Necessity after reviewing a host of evidence presented to an Administrative Law Judge and her Order recommending approval. Approval of the [...]
When I started working at our agency in 1992 (doing risk assessments for state superfund sites) I never dreamed that one day I’d have the honor of serving as the agency director. Quite honestly, I never had a goal of being the director- but somehow it just happened. This has been an awesome job. [...]
One of the services we sometimes take for granted is mail service. At ADHS we have a small mailroom, staffed by Susan Barnes and Meredith Chernov, who processes mail sent through the US Postal Department and the inter-office mail between state offices. In 2014 our mailroom processed over 1,000,000 pieces of outgoing US mail for [...]
ASHLine quit coaches are trained to help both women of childbearing age and especially pregnant women. Our Quit Coaches act as a personal trainer for quitting tobacco and help set goals, work toward a quit date, and provide support. Just like a personal trainer, a quit coach works with folks one-on-one to keep them on [...]
So far, there have been over a hundred cases of measles associated with Disneyland (including seven here in Arizona). We’re lucky no “third generation” cases have been found here (yet). Measles can take up to 21 days to develop in a person who has been exposed to the disease, so we’re not out of the [...]
Smoking during pregnancy remains a risk to the health of Arizona infants. The Health Status and Vital Statistics Report for 2013 found that 4.4% of Arizona moms smoked during their pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk for many birth defects. A new article found that smoking during pregnancy is associated with [...]
