General

Here you will find topics ranging from current events that affect public health in Arizona to overall information about the Arizona Department of Health Services

Health Homes Planning Grant Approved

By |2011-04-05T08:50:33-07:00April 5th, 2011|General|

Last week I wrote about how we and AHCCCS applied for a Health Homes Planning Grant from the US Dept. of Health & Human Services to improve the health status of folks with serious mental illnesses by improving case management, care coordination, health promotion, transitional care, individual and family support, referral to necessary services, and the [...]

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Open Letter to Arizona Physicians on Medical Marijuana

By |2017-02-10T09:51:50-07:00April 4th, 2011|General|

Laura Nelson, M.D.. Chief Medical Officer, Arizona Department of Health Services Will Humble, Director, Arizona Department of Health ServicesThank you for your interest in the effective implementation of the AZ Medical Marijuana Act.  We realize that many Arizona physicians may not yet feel comfortable with or fully informed about medicinal marijuana.  It is likely that [...]

Trace Levels of Iodine-131 found in AZ Milk

By |2017-02-10T09:51:50-07:00April 1st, 2011|General|

Last week I wrote about how Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency (ARRA) instruments detected trace levels of Iodine-131 in AZ air from the troubled nuclear power plant in Japan.  This week testing by ARRA and the AZ Dept. of Agriculture found trace levels of I-131 in the milk samples that they routinely monitor.  The levels are of no [...]

Health Homes Planning Grant

By |2017-02-10T09:51:51-07:00March 31st, 2011|General|

Awhile back the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released preliminary guidance to state Medicaid agencies (AHCCCS) regarding a new federal funding opportunity to coordinate and integrate primary, acute, behavioral health, and long term supports for folks with chronic illnesses.  The guidance encouraged state Medicaid agencies to work with partners to provide technical assistance for [...]

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Want a dispensary? Think Rural

By |2017-02-10T09:51:51-07:00March 28th, 2011|General|

One of our objectives as we developed the final set of Rules for Medical Marijuana was to ensure reliable access to medication in rural Arizona.  That's why we built in some incentives to encourage folks to apply for one of the rural CHAAs.  First, we made sure that inventory could be transferred between dispensaries (and [...]

Dispensary Zoning Issues

By |2017-02-10T09:51:51-07:00March 28th, 2011|General|

Many of the comments that we received at the public hearings were about how we'll evaluate and award the dispensary licenses.  Many of the questions were about zoning, so here's a brief summary of how the zoning part will work: The final rules outline a 2-step process whereby applicants enter into a competitive screening in each Community Health Analysis Area [...]

Medical Marijuana Begins in About 2 Weeks

By |2011-03-28T08:07:42-07:00March 28th, 2011|General|

We’ve published our final Rules for managing the upcoming Medical Marijuana Program in Arizona.  We released the final rules and a series of fact sheets on our website first-thing this morning.  The fact sheets are designed to help prospective qualified patients, designated caregivers, dispensary applicants and physicians understand the final set of rules (including dispensary application [...]

Final Medical Marijuana Rules will be Released Monday

By |2011-03-25T06:20:46-07:00March 25th, 2011|General|

We’re finished making our policy decisions regarding the final medical marijuana rules, and our rules team will be spending Friday and probably part of the weekend crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s on the final medical marijuana rules.  We’ll be releasing them on our website first-thing on Monday morning.  We’ll also be having a [...]

New National Public Health Indicator Tool

By |2011-03-24T07:27:40-07:00March 24th, 2011|General, Preparedness, Prevention|

HHS launched a new web portal providing important health and health care indicator data.  The Health Indicators Warehouse represents a vast collection of health and health care indicators like determinants of health, health care access, cost, quality, and use.  Health indicator can be searched for specific populations, places, political jurisdictions, and geographic areas. The Warehouse [...]

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MY Fest 4

By |2017-02-10T09:51:51-07:00March 23rd, 2011|Behavioral Health, General|

The 4th Annual MY Fest is scheduled for Saturday, April 23, 2011 from 11 am to 4 pm.  This exciting event has once again been planned and produced by members of Magellan Youth Leaders Inspiring Future Empowerment (MY LIFE) Arizona. The MY Fest youth festival will be at the Tempe Beach Park again this year and [...]

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