I’m happy to announce that I’ve permanently appointed Cory Nelson as our official Deputy Director for Behavioral Health. He’s been serving in the Acting capacity since August of ‘12 and has shown great skill and leadership in the position. He’s been very successful working with our leadership and our Agency team as well as our [...]
The American Academy of Pediatrics put out a new policy statement called “Planned Home Birth” this week. The Policy Document summarizes the standards of care for newborn infants born at home. It’s designed to help pediatricians provide supportive, informed advice to women considering home birth. The AAP Report says they agree with the American College of [...]
A city’s General Plan is one tool for communities to define how they want their city or town to grow and improve population health. Currently, Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, and Scottsdale are updating their General Plans, and each city has a variety of resources that give community members the opportunity to share their opinions and get [...]
The March edition of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Program’s Issue Brief highlights the great strides Arizona has made in decreasing neonatal deaths since the inception of our High Risk Perinatal Program/Newborn Intensive Care Program. When the program started in the 1970s, 1.8% of neonates died within a month of being born. As a [...]
Guest Blog by Claudia Sloan; Communications, Cultural Competency, Workforce Development in the Behavioral Health Services Division Today is the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month... and in honor of that the Arizona Diamondbacks in collaboration with the Mental Health Awareness Coalition is hosting an event during tonight's D-backs game against division rival San Francisco Giants. At the [...]
Guest Blog from Ken Komatsu, State Epidemiologist With over 1 billion people crossing international borders each year, vaccine preventable diseases not usually found in Arizona, can arrive at any time. Earlier this month a young child from Pima County became ill with a rash illness while visiting Asia. This region of the world has had [...]
Looking for Gold Standard information to help you be the best parent you can be when it comes to your kid’s health and wellness? Whether you're looking for basic child health info or detailed guidance about parenting issues, look no further than HealthyChildren.org, which is the only parenting web site backed by 60,000 pediatricians. You'll [...]
Our Licensing and Rulemaking teams spent virtually all week hearing from hundreds of Stakeholders from numerous associations and licensees about our ongoing regulatory reform effort. Our team met with representatives from: Adult Day Health Care Facilities; Assisted Living Facilities; Home Health Agencies; Hospices; Hospitals; Nursing Care Institutions; Outpatient Surgical Centers; Outpatient Treatment Centers; Recovery Care [...]
Just as we expected, the sample that we tested for H7N9 influenza today was negative. Thanks to our Lab team for staying a little late this evening to run the test. Even though it was very likely to be negative from the beginning- it's still important to follow up on every lead. After all, vigilance [...]
As spring blooms in AZ, the change in seasons also comes with milestones for our state’s teenagers. In the next few weeks many of them will be attending proms and graduations. While proms and graduations can have positive memories, the experiences can turn tragic when alcohol is part of the mix. Alcohol impairs judgment… potentially [...]
