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 [...]
Last week the Altarum Institute released a report highlighting Arizona as one of only 10 states to successfully integrate physical activity and nutrition criteria into Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for child care facilities. In Arizona, the quality rating system for child care is known as Quality First and is administered by First Things First. To [...]
A decade ago, AZ launched a plan to create an internationally competitive bioscience sector. This roadmap is the long-term plan to combine leaders in business, basic sciences & research, and political entities in order to create an infrastructure and climate that would be ideal to propel AZ forward in the biosciences. The Flinn Foundation invested in [...]
The President’s Day 3-day weekend is a great time to start your vegetable garden in the Sonoran Desert, so get out your shovels, mulch, and other garden materials this weekend. But if you want to grow healthy vegetables in the desert- you’ll need to prep your soil before the quickly upcoming planting season. Here are [...]
Check our excellent new web page about the history of the AZ State hospital. The stuff on the new hospital history page is fascinating. One of the things that struck me is that the issues of concern to the Superintendent of the Hospital 100 years ago were remarkable similar to today. The 100 year old [...]
A 4th grader in Gilbert was diagnosed with the mumps last week. Had all the staff and faculty in the school been previously vaccinated for the mumps at the school- it really would’ve been no big deal. But, it turns out that 19 kids at the school hadn’t been vaccinated for the mumps (mainly because [...]
Please take some time to enjoy Arizona’s 100th birthday celebration this week. The Arizona Centennial Commission held Arizona Best Fest this past Saturday and Sunday. There’ll also be a host of events going on tomorro (AZ’s actual 100th Birthday) in the Capitol mall area- especially the area between the House and Senate buildings just across [...]
I’m writing this from my hotel room in Rocky Point- after a long day (and night) of the inter Plenary Session. The 2 day conference started Thursday and goes through tonight. We meet twice a year- it’s basically an opportunity for us to form partnerships across the border and to develop regional approaches to things like [...]
We’ll be having a “Request For Information” session regarding our “ Recovery Through Whole Health, the Regional Behavioral Health Authority with Health Homes” project (a.k.a. the upcoming Request for Proposal for behavioral health services in Maricopa County) on March 21 from 1- 5 pm at the Radisson City Center at 3600 N. 2nd Ave. in Phoenix. We’ll [...]
