Ebola Interventions Working
There has been tremendous progress in controlling Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa in the last month. New Ebola cases have fallen sharply in the last few weeks to fewer than 100 per week. For the week ending January 25, there were 4 new cases in Liberia, 30 in Guinea and 65 in Sierra Leone. At this point in the epidemic, [...]
AMR Certificate of Necessity
You might recall that a few weeks ago I approved American Medical Response’s (AMR Maricopa) application to operate ambulances in Maricopa County (called a Certificate of Necessity or CON). I approved the Certificate of Necessity after reviewing a host of evidence presented to an Administrative Law Judge and her Order recommending approval. Approval of the application doesn’t mean that AMR [...]
To Everything, There is a Season
When I started working at our agency in 1992 (doing risk assessments for state superfund sites) I never dreamed that one day I’d have the honor of serving as the agency director. Quite honestly, I never had a goal of being the director- but somehow it just happened. This has been an awesome job. We’ve made tremendous progress in [...]
Thanks a Million
One of the services we sometimes take for granted is mail service. At ADHS we have a small mailroom, staffed by Susan Barnes and Meredith Chernov, who processes mail sent through the US Postal Department and the inter-office mail between state offices. In 2014 our mailroom processed over 1,000,000 pieces of outgoing US mail for the first time ever. It [...]
ASHLine Focuses on Preconception Health, Too
ASHLine quit coaches are trained to help both women of childbearing age and especially pregnant women. Our Quit Coaches act as a personal trainer for quitting tobacco and help set goals, work toward a quit date, and provide support. Just like a personal trainer, a quit coach works with folks one-on-one to keep them on track and helps them make [...]
AZ Measles Outbreak Winds Down
So far, there have been over a hundred cases of measles associated with Disneyland (including seven here in Arizona). We’re lucky no “third generation” cases have been found here (yet). Measles can take up to 21 days to develop in a person who has been exposed to the disease, so we’re not out of the woods quite yet…but if we [...]