American Medical Response’s Application Approved
This morning 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. The official notice will be posted on the Office of Administrative Hearing website this [...]
Cardiac Arrest Survival
Sudden cardiac arrest continued to be a leading cause of death in Arizona during 2014 (7,600/ year), but we also had some promising results. A few years ago our Bureau of EMS & Trauma System enticed dozens of AZ hospitals to become a Cardiac Receiving Centers. The initiative helps hospitals provide treatments scientifically proven to improve a patient’s survival rate [...]
Obesity & Its Consequences
Research in 2014 found increasing evidence that a person’s nutrition and physical activity in the first 5 years of life has a huge impact on the person’s weight and health status as an adult. One study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this year suggested that overweight 5-year-olds are 300% more likely to become obese later in life. [...]
The Advent of Big Data
We collect all kinds of surveillance about prevalence of disease, birth, causes of death, reasons for hospital visits, smoking rates and hundreds of other indicators to help us assess health indicators and design interventions to improve outcomes. For the first time ever in 2014, we developed a tool to explore this data and visualize it in several different ways. Our [...]
Improving Outcomes at the Arizona State Hospital
A key priority of our agency during 2014 was to improve outcomes among patients on their path to Recovery at the State Hospital. Our Hospital team cares for people who have mental health issues, whether for civil reasons or committed through the criminal courts. We also oversee the Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center. In 2013 we began the transition [...]
Infectious Disease Preparedness & Response
The Ebola virus, influenza, enterovirus, tuberculosis, and other emerging infectious diseases posed key public health challenges in Arizona during 2014, sparking important interventions. In October the Governor issued an Executive Order establishing the Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response to develop and implement a coordinated plan to ensure Arizona’s public health infrastructure is prepared for the outbreak of diseases [...]