For many uninsured Arizonans, a doctor’s visit is a luxury that they simply can’t afford. That is unless they’re visiting a Sliding Fee Schedule Clinic. These clinics are a vital part of our healthcare system and provide a broad range of primary care, dental and mental health services to uninsured patients regardless of their ability [...]
Last week I wrote about how improving the health of Arizonans is critical to improving the quality of life and reducing health care costs… and that effective strategies are ones that incorporate the principles of population health. A city’s General Plan can be a large public health lever to improve outcomes because it’s the long-range planning [...]
This month marked the 2nd anniversary of our Arizona Medical Marijuana Program. We began issuing cards to qualifying patients 2 years ago this week, and as of April 16th we had about 38,000 qualified patients in AZ. On the Dispensary side of the house… 16 dispensaries are approved to operate in AZ, and another 13 [...]
The events in Boston and in West, TX highlight the important role of our EMS Agencies and trauma centers in helping badly injured victims… but they also remind us that each of us may be unexpectedly needed to help during an emergency. But where can you start to bring up your first aid skill set so [...]
A few weeks ago, we announced that we’ve awarded the contract to manage the Maricopa County Integrated Regional Behavioral Health Authority (beginning on October 1) to Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care, who will be bringing some exciting ideas to the table while building on the great things already happening in our system. A couple of weeks [...]
Our Empower program is hosting its second annual conference Empowering Habits, Empowering Lives: Super Heroes in Action on May 4. The conference is a great opportunity for providers in Early Care and Education settings to learn the new 10 Empower standards that have been established for 2013. The conference sessions will also equip participants with [...]
Physical activity is absolutely essential to maintain good health… but you need checks in the system to make sure it’s done safely. That’s where the CDC’s Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports on-line training comes in. It’s is a free, online course available to coaches, parents, and others designed to help keep athletes safe from [...]
Guest post from Kathryn Wangsness, Chief for the Office of Laboratory Services The Arizona State Public Health Lab is celebrating the dedication of its laboratory personnel next week as part of Laboratory Professionals Week. Laboratory Professionals Week was originally established to honor the more than 300,000 scientists, technicians and pathologists who perform testing vital to [...]
In our April issue of Recovery WORKS you’ll find inspiring recovery stories, behavioral health news, resources, and information from our community. Our featured peer success story this month is about MedHat Zekri, a peer who’s been able to overcome severe depression, anxiety and stress and is being very successful in achieving his life's goals. In our [...]
Last year we created Arizona’s Excellence in Pre-hospital Injury Care project- which is aimed at improving brain injury outcomes in AZ. The National Institutes of Health chose AZ as the only state to evaluate the national standards for pre-hospital emergency care of brain injury. Since we got started about a year ago- we’ve recruited almost 100 [...]
