I had the delightful experience of meeting with our former Director, Jack Dillenberg, at our AZ Developmental Disabilities Planning Council meeting last month. Our Council meeting was out at AT Still University’s AZ School of Dentistry & Oral Health. It was great seeing Jack again- he hasn't changed a bit- he's just as enthusiastic and animated as ever. Most of [...]
OK… everybody knows that we have all sorts of recognition weeks and months for everything from breastfeeding to mental health. Most folks don’t know that March is Purchasing Month. But let’s face it- none of us would be able to accomplish anything in this business without our Procurement team! Our Procurement shop touches every aspect [...]
Maybe you’ve read or heard about my experience with my colonoscopy when I turned 50 (OK, I was 51). For years doctors have recommended getting a colonoscopy when you turn 50. If doctors see something unusual like a polyp, they can remove it while they're in there - which is what happened to me. But until this [...]
Our Office of Behavioral Health Licensing website has a brand-new look. Check out their new landing page. Everyone can now enjoy an updated and easy to use web format. The new site includes easy access to AZ Care Check (where the user can get up to date survey and enforcement results for a 3 year history)... and [...]
Please join us in encouraging pregnant women and new moms to sign up for Text4baby. Text4baby is a program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition that provides pregnant women and new moms with information to help them give their babies the best possible start in life. Text4baby is the country’s first free, health education program [...]
We recently held a series of focus groups and interviews to obtain input from persons with Serious Mental Illnesses (peers) and their family members regarding the integration of physical healthcare and behavioral healthcare services in partnership with St. Luke’s Health Initiative and AHCCCS, and several behavioral health peer-run organizations and peer and family members. The [...]
As you know from earlier blog posts a judge ruled in a state case that had challenged our dispensary applicant selection criteria. The judge’s decision basically struck down several of the selection criteria we had been planning to use to for competitive areas of the state (areas where there will be more than 1 applicant [...]
Congrats to our Women Infant & Children’s program who did some research and implemented some simple policy changes that reduced the consumption of 7 Billion calories annually in AZ. How? After we did a little research, we came up with a way to change our WIC policy... convincing people to replace whole milk with 1% or fat free milk (for [...]
Bloodstream infections that start because of a “central line” in a person’s body are among the most serious of all healthcare-associated infections- causing thousands of deaths each year and about $700M in added costs. The CDC estimates that there were about 41,000 infections like these U.S. hospitals last year… and 25% percent of patients who [...]
You’ve probably read or heard about my experience with my colonoscopy when I turned 50. For years doctors have recommended getting a colonoscopy when you turn 50. If doctors see something unusual like a polyp, they can remove it while they are there - which is what happened to me. But they really didn’t have [...]
