General

Staying in the Saddle

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:20-07:00January 9th, 2015|Behavioral Health, General, Preparedness, Prevention|

We’ve had a great run together since I accepted the Interim ADHS Director position 6 years ago. I’m grateful to all of you for trusting me in this important position and for working together for the benefit of the folks of Arizona. We’ve made tremendous progress toward our Vision of Health and Wellness for all [...]

Comments Off

Teen Pregnancy and Births

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:20-07:00January 7th, 2015|General, Prevention|

Teen pregnancies and births continued to be a challenge for us in 2014, but we continued to see encouraging results. Having a baby as a teenager impacts the mom, the dad, the baby and the whole community. Teen parents often don’t finish high school, which in turn, reduces their ability to financially take care of [...]

Comments Off

American Medical Response’s Application Approved

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:21-07:00January 5th, 2015|General, Licensing|

This morning 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. The official notice will be posted on the Office [...]

Comments Off

Infectious Disease Preparedness & Response

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:21-07:00December 31st, 2014|General|

The Ebola virus, influenza, enterovirus, tuberculosis, and other emerging infectious diseases posed key public health challenges in Arizona during 2014, sparking important interventions. In October the Governor issued an Executive Order establishing the Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response to develop and implement a coordinated plan to ensure Arizona’s public health infrastructure is prepared [...]

Comments Off

Updated EMS Rules Finalized

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:22-07:00December 26th, 2014|General|

Emergency Medical Services will also be improved thanks to some new rules that will take effect on January 1. The new rules (filed last week) make it easier for a patient who meets certain criteria to be taken to someplace other than an emergency department. The new rules also allow some emergency medical care technicians [...]

Comments Off

The Certificate of Necessity (CON) “Pipeline”

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:22-07:00December 16th, 2014|General|

American Medical Response’s (AMR) isn’t the only application in the pipeline. A number of fire departments along with private groups are applying for CONs right now. Some are farther along in the application process than others. Why all the interest in running an ambulance company? Rural Metro’s bankruptcy has probably played a role along with [...]

Comments Off

Administrative Judge Recommends Approving New Ambulance Service Application

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:23-07:00December 9th, 2014|General|

Late Monday, an Administrative Law Judge issued an Order recommending that I approve American Medical Response of Maricopa’s (AMR) application to operate ambulances (certificate of necessity or CON) in all of Maricopa County. We regulate ambulance services differently than most states. In order to operate an ambulance here the applicant needs to meet a number [...]

Comments Off

Community Paramedicine Legal Analysis Report

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:23-07:00December 9th, 2014|General|

Community Integrated Paramedicine programs are coming together in two primary business models in Arizona. The first one has EMS (emergency medical services) agencies partnering with hospitals to reduce the frequency that patients are re-admitted to hospitals. In the second, EMS agencies are cultivating social service referrals to reduce the frequency that folks use emergency departments [...]

Comments Off

2013 Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Report

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:23-07:00December 5th, 2014|General|

Last week we published our Agency’s most popular annual report. It’s called the 2013 Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Report. Last year’s version got 2,000,000 hits! It gives our most granular public health information of the year including refined health statistics on pregnancies, births, reportable diseases, deaths, inpatient hospitalizations, emergency room visits, marriages, divorces [...]

1

Thanks for Volunteering

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:49:23-07:00November 28th, 2014|General|

A couple months back, I sent a note to staff letting you know about an opportunity to help out kids in our hood…students at Capitol Elementary School. Several of you volunteered and will be tutoring the kids a couple days a week in math and reading. As Winston Churchill said:, “We make a living by [...]

Comments Off

Categories

Quick Links

Archives

Social Media