Preventing Healthcare Associated Infections: An AZ Winnable Battle
Healthcare-associated infections are a critical public health challenge in Arizona and in the US. Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are acquired during healthcare treatment and can be devastating and even deadly- and they’re largely preventable. You may have seen the article in last week's Republic about dirty needles and their link to transmission of viruses and drug-resistant superbugs. The article mentions a recent Arizona incident [...]
Medical Marijuana Continuing Medical Education
We’ve been processing Medical Marijuana Registration Cards for about a year and a half now. One of our primary goals from the start has been to try to build a true medical marijuana program. One of the keys is setting clear expectations for clinical assessment and medical record review by physicians before they sign a medical marijuana certification. From the beginning, we’ve [...]
New Electronic Birth Certificate ‘Round the Corner
Our Vital Records shop does a lot more than manage the State’s birth and death certificate system (which we’ve been doing since 1885). We’re also an integral part of the Nation’s Vital Statistics System, which serves as the backbone of national data sharing in public health. The data collected under the National Vital Statistics System works in partnership with the National [...]
Our Christmas Angels
One of our best Agency traditions has been our Christmas Angel program. Every year for the past 15 years our employees have been helping other Agency employees to make sure every kid in the ADHS family has something to open on Christmas morning. More than 230 angels were adopted from trees at the State Hospital and downtown campus this year. Folks [...]
Top 2012 Baby Names
Every year about this time, we tally up the most popular baby names… and for the past few years, they haven’t changed much. Matter of fact, the top 8 girls names from 2010 are still in the top 8 this year – they’ve just changed places a bit. Sophia was number one this year and number 2 in 2010… Isabella [...]
Get Trained in Mental Health First Aid Today
The tragedy in Connecticut has reminded us all about how important mental health and mental health treatment is to ensure that we have a society that functions in a way that we’d all like. To be truly effective, a behavioral and mental health system needs to make sure parents, teachers, doctors and emergency department staff, firefighters and first responders, law [...]