Maybe you heard news reports this week about kids in California with a “polio-like syndrome.” Here's a synopsis: Over the last 18 months, 5 kids have been identified by California’s Department of Public Health with a paralysis in one or more limbs. Multiple tests have been run on them. Poliovirus wasn't found, but enterovirus-68 was isolated in 2 of the cases. There are hundreds [...]
There’s widespread agreement within the public health community that the percentage of women who deliver by Cesarean Section these days is too high. In fact, 1/3 of women in the US have cesarean deliveries these days (up from 9.5% in 1990 and 23% in 2008). Last week the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and [...]
Tomorrow Rural/Metro will hold two events in the East Valley to help parents make sure they have the right seat for their kids and the seats are properly installed. They will also collect gently used and new car seats so the state can donate them to families in need in Mexico. Rural/Metro is a partner [...]
The USDA announced proposed new guidelines for school wellness policies as part of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 this week. The new policies set goals in nutrition, physical activity, and other school-based activities promoting student wellness. Additionally, the school wellness policies include a guideline on food marketing in schools, setting a standard that [...]
A few weeks ago the Governor announced a final agreement had been reached in the 32 year old Arnold vs. Sarn case regarding care and services for individuals with serious mental illness. The Settlement is the foundation to end the lawsuit while establishing a blueprint for a successful community-based behavioral health system in Arizona. This [...]
Last Wednesday we held a Medical Marijuana Dispensary Collaborative. It was modeled after last year’s successful ADVICE Collaborative, which brought dialysis facilities together to share best practices and engage in a dialog to reduce infection control violations and improve patient care. The goal of the meeting was to avoid future deficiencies by ensuring that dispensaries understand our expectations and to help us [...]
Last week a Superior Court Judge denied a motion to Stay the transition of the Maricopa County behavioral health services contract from Magellan to Mercy Maricopa on April 1. With this ruling it looks like everything is happening according to schedule. Magellan still has the opportunity to appeal the decision and exercise due process in the matter… [...]
Disease outbreaks can come from anywhere. In Arizona we’ve had illness from contaminated pomegranate seeds from the Middle East, measles from Switzerland, salmonellosis from African dwarf frogs and cholera from Peru. More recently a Canadian traveler died of H5N1 after she returned home from a long trip to China. An exotic disease from another country is only [...]
Access to primary care providers in rural AZ is a problem. Our National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program and the State Loan Repayment Program are part of the solution- recruiting primary care workforce resources in those areas. Still, there’s not enough providers in rural Arizona- and 150 rural communities in Arizona need access to primary [...]
A report out by the CDC this week found that people between 18 and 64 years old make up 61% of all flu-related hospitalizations so far this season in the US. In normal years only about 35% of flu hospitalizations are from this age group. H1N1 (the flu strain we saw circulating in the 2009 flu pandemic) is still the [...]
