A recent lawsuit (Planned Parenthood of Arizona v. Humble et.al.) was resolved this week. The lawsuit had challenged a new law (signed last legislative session) that (among other changes) requires us to license facilities that perform medication abortions. We already license and inspect facilities that do surgical abortions- the new law requires that facilities that [...]
We’re proud to join in the celebration of National Health Center Week by highlighting Health Centers throughout our State and the vital services they provide. Community Health Centers are community-based, patient directed organizations that provide services to medically underserved areas. These valuable safety net providers offer full-time comprehensive primary and preventative care to patients regardless of their [...]
Most of us are aware that the Well Woman HealthCheck increases screening for breast and cervical cancer. As part of our federal funding agreement for the program the CDC audits 100% of the services provided. Services are audited for appropriateness and timeliness- even the age of women receiving mammograms is audited for meeting guidelines. We submit [...]
One of the criteria on our official medical marijuana Physician Certification Form includes an attestation by a physician that they’ve reviewed their patient’s profile on the Arizona Board of Pharmacy’s Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program database before signing the certification. We included this requirement to ensure that physicians are acting in their patient’s best interest- [...]
School is back in session- which means it’s time to figure out your family logistics for getting to and from school. Fortunately, we have a new tool to help families make the healthy choice and consider an “active” solution. We just launched our new online assessment tool called the Active School Neighborhood Checklist to help families make safe [...]
The August issue of Recovery WORKS! is now available in our website. Check it out…there are several new features including a recurring column called “Peer-Run Organizations Profiles” that will briefly highlight the tremendous work by our peer-runs; and the new “State Chatter” box which will share a variety of news from peers, family members, and [...]
Our Behavioral Health team has completed the draft of our ($27M) 2012-2013 Joint Block Grant Application for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Services. This year SAMHSA streamlined the application process to allow States to apply for grant funds under one combined application and has moved away from a standardized reporting template, allowing the [...]
One of our Department priorities over the last few years has been to improve Arizona’s Trauma System. We know we can dramatically improve service and reduce costs by developing a coordinated and integrated system of trauma care for the entire state. More than 24,000 people are severely injured (called trauma) every year in Arizona, and [...]
After your baby is born, the umbilical cord is clamped and cut but some blood remains in the cord. It turns out that this umbilical cord blood is actually liquid gold. The stem cells in cord blood are very flexible biologically and can be transplanted in people to treat a number of life-threatening diseases. In [...]
Many people don’t realize one of the critical functions the Department performs is certifying Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s), including Paramedics. Our Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System currently certifies hundreds of new EMT’s and Paramedics each year, helping ensure that Arizona’s Fire Departments and ambulance companies have sufficient staff that are properly trained [...]
