Another AZ monsoon season has come and gone. The seasonal winds blow more than dust in the air, they stir up questions and concerns about Valley Fever. Those who have been in Arizona for a while may know that Valley Fever is a lung infection caused by a fungus that’s common in our desert soil (below [...]
A couple of years ago a bill was passed that required our agency to do a comprehensive statistical report about abortion in Arizona. We published our second annual report this week… which includes data compiled from elective abortion procedures reports, complications from abortions reports and petitions filed authorizing abortions to minors. Facilities that provide the [...]
We often get questions from people at meetings and our stakeholders about citizenship or residency requirements for programs that ADHS runs. It really depends on the program and with dozens of programs, there’s no one answer. We posted a frequently asked question sheet on our website, but we wanted to make it even easier for people [...]
The ADOA published a very interesting annual report about the state government’s workforce this week. It includes over 30 charts and tables of information regarding the status of the State’s workforce. Some of the highlights in this year’s report include: 1) the number of active employees; 2) vacant positions; 3) average salaries of covered employees; and [...]
About 1/3 of American adults have high blood pressure and more than half of them don’t have it under control. The majority of people with high blood pressure are being treated with medicine and have seen a doctor at least twice in the past year… but their pressure still isn't under control, according to a new [...]
If you did, you can thank the Affordable Care Act. When you buy health insurance- the percentage of your premium dollars that your insurance company spends on providing you with health care (as opposed to what it spends on administrative, overhead, and marketing) is called a “Medical Loss Ratio”. The Affordable Care Act limits how [...]
A few weeks ago Cory Nelson did his in-person “State of the Hospital” presentations. Many of you were able to attend one and we really appreciate the dialogue and feedback we got. It’s impressive to see how much work our hospital team has accomplished in the past year.
The Affordable Care Act will establish health insurance exchanges in each state- providing folks (and small business employees) an additional opportunity to get health insurance coverage starting 1/1/14. The future exchanges will provide marketplaces for folks to directly compare and buy private health insurance based on price, quality, and other things. All the plans will need to cover all [...]
Our State Lab performed chemical and biological surveillance testing on food samples from the Republican National Convention. We were selected to participate in the testing because of our reputation and previous experience working with the Food Safety Inspection Service for the detection of biological and chemical agents in food. The samples arrived at the State Laboratory [...]
I’m happy to share our new Arizona Chronic Disease Strategic Plan. This past year, our team from the Bureau of Tobacco & Chronic Disease worked with community partners from across the state on a new guiding document for chronic disease prevention and health promotion. This strategic plan will be used by ADHS, county health departments, and community partners [...]
