General – Page 69 – AZ Dept. of Health Services News

Winnable Battles

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:51:12-07:00May 4th, 2012|General|

As part of our strategic plan, we name 5 winnable battles to prioritize over the next 1-3 years. While not de-emphasizing work in other areas, this is an important effort to achieve measurable impact quickly in a few targeted areas. We’ve identified five areas as key domestic winnable battles for improving our state’s health, based [...]

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ADHS Annual Report

By Will Humble|2012-05-03T08:37:14-07:00May 3rd, 2012|General|

We published our 2011 ADHS Annual Report this week. Rather than reproduce all of our activities in narrative form- we used a summary approach this year that incorporates a lot of “hot links” to more information about our achievements.

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New AZ Biomedical Research Commission Kick-off

By Will Humble|2012-05-01T11:21:03-07:00May 1st, 2012|General|

You might remember that the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission was transferred to the ADHS last legislative session. We officially became responsible for the Commission in July of 2011. My first priorities were to get a clear analysis of the “books” (e.g. the financial records etc.), get a handle on the outstanding research projects that the Commission [...]

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Doctor/Patient Density- Our Online Gap Analysis Map

By Will Humble|2012-04-30T09:36:20-07:00April 30th, 2012|General|

In public health it’s good to know where the resources are – and where they're short. Our Health Systems Development team created an excellent online tool to help our partners keep track of resources -- to see where we have enough physicians and where we could use more. It also shows how much of an area is [...]

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Trash Your Stash V

By Will Humble|2012-04-27T12:42:20-07:00April 27th, 2012|General|

Prescription drugs can be safe and effective at treating illnesses- but leftovers are also tempting for experimental teens- and the misuse of narcotic prescriptions is an increasingly urgent public health problem in Arizona. In fact, more than 1,100 Arizonans died from prescription drug poisoning from misuse and abuse last year- which is more than the number [...]

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Implementing Our Strategic Plan- Address Public Health Workforce Needs

By Will Humble|2012-04-25T09:32:52-07:00April 25th, 2012|General|

Dietitians are a core public health asset- and one in short supply to boot. We’re trying to do something about that shortage with our new “WIC Track” initiative. We’re partnering with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health Dietetic Internship to offer a "WIC Track” internship. It’s open to any eligible (have completed a Bachelor's [...]

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Our Friend Alan

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:51:12-07:00April 23rd, 2012|General|

We learned some sad and shocking news this morning that Alan Oppenheim (our ADHS Acting Assistant Director for Licensing) passed away this weekend. Alan was an excellent leader and manager- but much more importantly- he was a really good person. He always cared about others and asked lots of questions about what was going on. [...]

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5 Reasons to vaccinate your baby

By Will Humble|2012-04-22T08:55:21-07:00April 22nd, 2012|General|

It's always a good idea to periodically look at why you are doing something and see if something might be different -just in case you need to change course. Public health does that with many things - this week, we take a look at infant immunizations and the value they play in protecting the little [...]

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Infant Mortality- the Presidential Challenge

By Will Humble|2012-04-19T08:14:57-07:00April 19th, 2012|General, Prevention|

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that Dr. David Lakey, this year’s President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials has selected the Healthy Babies Project for his national initiative- challenging each state to implement strategies to reduce prematurity and infant mortality based on successful national, regional, and state efforts to improve [...]

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Insurance Exchange Reg’s

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:51:13-07:00April 18th, 2012|General|

The Department of Health and Human Services released final regulations to implement Insurance Exchanges under the ACA. The regulations spell out the standards for establishing and operating “one-stop” marketplaces, qualifications for health insurance plan participation, exchange health plan and subsidy eligibility determination for individuals, and criteria for small business eligibility and participation. Certain provisions of the [...]

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