General – Page 86 – AZ Dept. of Health Services News

Public Health Law Resources

By azdhs-admin|2011-07-13T12:42:39-07:00July 13th, 2011|General|

Public health and the law are intertwined- and you can’t really be effective at developing public health policies and interventions without understanding how the law interfaces with public health. We’re fortunate to have a fantastic local resource right here in Arizona. The Public Health Law and Policy Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law [...]

Comments Off

Abortion Clinic Licensing

By azdhs-admin|2011-07-13T10:37:50-07:00July 13th, 2011|General|

A new law was passed last legislative session (HB 2416) that expanded the definition of an abortion to include “any means” (the former definition was limited to surgical abortions) and changed the qualifications for who can perform the procedure. For us, it meant that beginning July 21 (when the law was to take effect) we'd be responsible for [...]

Comments Off

Border Health Partnerships

By azdhs-admin|2017-02-10T09:51:41-07:00July 12th, 2011|General, Licensing, Preparedness, Prevention|

A few weeks ago I blogged about the June plenary session of the Arizona Mexico Commission called Arizona & Sonora: Gateway for Innovation. The conference provided an opportunity to move forward a bi-national agenda supported by Arizona and Sonora. The health committee discussed regional approaches to valley fever surveillance, burn patient infrastructure, substance abuse, TB, border [...]

Comments Off

Encouraging Trends in New Bi-annual Tobacco Prevention Report

By azdhs-admin|2017-02-10T09:51:42-07:00July 11th, 2011|General, Prevention|

Part of the authorizing statute for our tobacco prevention programs includes a requirement that we develop a bi-annual report of our progress and activities. Just two years ago, we reported that we were shifting to an “evidence-based” approach to our prevention activities. In other words- we shifted our intervention strategies to focus on approaches that have [...]

Comments Off

Guillain Barre

By azdhs-admin|2017-02-10T09:51:42-07:00July 11th, 2011|General|

A couple of folks from the CDC have been in Arizona this week to help us (and Sonora) to investigate an unusual number of cases (8 in Arizona and 8 in Sonora) of Guillain Barre syndrome . The Arizona cases are in the Yuma area. It’s a rare condition that rarely (but occasionally) happens several days after [...]

2

New Medical Marijuana Memo from Justice

By azdhs-admin|2011-07-11T09:15:19-07:00July 11th, 2011|General|

The U.S. Department issued new guidance for federal prosecutors last week. We had been anticipating a new memo from Justice for some time- hoping that it would clarify whether the dispensary portions of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act are legal under federal law (the Controlled Substances Act). We were also hoping it would help us figure out how [...]

3

Gettin’ to School

By azdhs-admin|2011-07-07T09:05:17-07:00July 7th, 2011|General, Prevention|

If you’re my age, you probably walked or biked to school- it was a basic part of our culture. Unfortunately the tradition has been lost (for now). In 1969 half of all kids walked or bicycled to and from school and almost 90% of kids that lived within a mile of school walked or biked. Today only [...]

Comments Off

State Lab Energy Efficiency

By azdhs-admin|2011-07-06T10:02:14-07:00July 6th, 2011|General, Preparedness|

A couple of years ago (when the financial crisis was just starting), we brainstormed about how we could bring down the utility bills in our State Laboratory. The Lab has always been electricity intensive, partly because of the workplace safety requirements etc. (e.g. the “hoods”) require more air exchange than a normal building. That means constantly [...]

Comments Off

Our Fix-it Specialist

By azdhs-admin|2011-07-02T11:24:02-07:00July 2nd, 2011|Behavioral Health, General|

Ann Froio has been the Department’s “Fix-it” specialist for the last several years. Most recently, Ann has served as Interim CEO for the Arizona State Hospital while the Department conducted a national search for a new CEO. For the year prior to that, Ann served as the Interim Director at the Arizona Community Protection and Treatment [...]

Comments Off

Behavioral Health Licensing Team – a Catalyst for Change

By azdhs-admin|2017-02-10T09:51:43-07:00July 1st, 2011|General|

Bill McCarroll was asked to participate and present in an interagency forum regarding the quality assurance issues linked to domestic violence treatment and the courts. This group was designed to bring together key stakeholders invested in studying the behavioral health licensing and treatment nuances in addressing the needs of persons involved in domestic violence. Important conversations [...]

Comments Off