Evaluating a Trauma System II
A couple of weeks ago, I introduced the concept of “Over Triage”… which is when EMS transports a patient to the highest level of care (like a level I trauma center) when they could have taken them to a level III or IV trauma center closer to their home. The downside of over-triage is that care at high-end centers is [...]
Health in All Policies Guidance
The California Department of Public Health, the California Endowment, and the Public Health Institute released a document called "Health in All Policies: A Guide for State and Local Governments" this week… which provides best practices to improve the public's health and safety by incorporating health considerations into decision-making across all sectors and policy areas. The guide features strategies for achieving [...]
Pertussis Exemptions Study
A study came out in Pediatrics last week that looked at how vaccine exemptions were related to a statewide outbreak of pertussis (also known as whooping cough) in California in 2010. As you might expect, the authors found that there were more whooping cough cases in areas with higher rates of vaccine exemptions. These findings were true even when the authors [...]
Behavioral Health Outreach Along the Border
We have two Regional Behavioral Health Authorities working to improve and protect mental health along the border. Cenpatico and Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA) offer specialized programs to help combat substance abuse and prevent suicide as well as to help those with behavioral health issues. One of the CPSA-sponsored prevention activities near the border includes substance abuse and suicide prevention. [...]
Medical Marijuana Rulemaking Underway
A few weeks ago a Superior Court judge decided that a portion of our medical marijuana regulations are unreasonable because they lack a formal appeal process for dispensary registration certificate holders who don’t earn their approval to operate within 1 year. Because of the ruling, we approved renewal requests for all the current dispensaries (open or not). The ruling also [...]
Outreach in Border Region Enhances WIC Enrollment
The Arizona WIC Program is airing outreach ads in border counties, to ensure WIC clients know about the availability of WIC services in their communities. Several local WIC agencies in the border region are undertaking special actions to promote WIC along with making healthy eating and active living the easy choice in their communities. The Mariposa WIC Program is a [...]