We were sued this week by a group of same-gender couples in Arizona- challenging Arizona's ban on gay marriage. The lawsuit challenges Arizona's marriage criteria which excludes same-gender couples from marriage. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix by seven same-gender couples and two people whose partners had died. We haven't analyzed [...]
Arizona ranks in the middle of the pack in infant mortality. We’re doing many things right to improve the health of our babies- but we have a way to go. Last fall we participated in a learning collaborative sponsored by the National Governors Association. About 160 folks met to begin the process developing a statewide [...]
Our Women’s and Children’s Health team administers the AZ federal maternal Child Health Block Grant. This grant is authorized through Title V of the Social Security Act and has been in place since 1935. Every 5 years we look at the health and well-being of Arizona’s women and children and develop our top priorities based [...]
We were served Wednesday with a lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief from our new Abortion Clinic Regulations that are scheduled to go into effect on April 1. The new regulations were in response to HB 2036, which was passed and signed during the 2012 legislative session… tasking us with several things related to the regulation of abortions. [...]
Our Licensing & Rulemaking teams have spent the past two years working with numerous associations and stakeholders from various licensed facilities as part of our regulatory reform initiative. The last legislative session extended our “exempt” rulemaking authority through April of 2014. This gave us the unique opportunity to live with the new rules for a [...]
March 1 was the kickoff of the new Arizona Farmers’ Market Nutrition season for women and children who participate in the AZ Women, Infants and Children program. WIC participants are beginning to receive their Farmers’ Market checks to spend for fresh, locally grown, fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets. WIC moms and their kids receive [...]
Data collection and analysis is public health’s most valuable renewable resource- which is why we’ve made data analysis such a high priority. Yesterday, the Office of the Inspector General for HHS published a document that highlights the fact that disciplined data analyses can identify key factors that result in poor outcomes- giving us the information [...]
Have you ever wondered — Why do people get sick? How can we prevent the spread of disease? What do doctors REALLY do? If so, the U of A College of Medicine in Phoenix has a summer program for you! Be a part of Med-Start Phoenix, a two-week day program with a fast paced curriculum [...]
The latest CDC obesity data published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association found a significant decline in obesity among kids aged 2 to 5. Obesity prevalence for this age group declined by 43% in the last 8 years (from 14% in 2004 to 8% in 2012. While the precise reasons for the [...]
Our Licensing team promotes and protects public health and safety by addressing quality of care issues. Last week we hosted a forum for our licensed midwives to learn more about our programs and resources to bring them up to speed on our newest initiatives related to maternal and child health so they'll have the latest tools [...]
