New “Empower” Standards Here
It is hard to believe we’re in the 3rd year of our successful Empower Program. As a refresher for those of you that aren’t familiar with Empower, it’s a program that focuses on increasing healthy eating and active living, along with helping to provide smoke-free environments, in licensed child care facilities… reaching over 200,000 children throughout Arizona. Empower is a [...]
The Silent Breakthrough
Until last week, influenza vaccine makers were limited to producing flu vaccines using a 40-year-old technology that depends on using fertilized chicken eggs to grow virus strains- meaning that it takes several months to make an influenza vaccine. Makers needed to organize sterile egg supplies and incubate the virus in them before the vaccine could be made and delivered. That’s [...]
Informed Consent Website Up & Running
Last legislative session the Governor signed HB 2036- which amends state law regarding abortions. Some parts of the law are pending legal challenges, but the parts requiring us to develop a website were unaffected- and our new informed consent site just went up. The website lists agencies and services that are available to assist women throughout their pregnancy, including information about adoption. The [...]
New Affordable Care Act Proposed Rules Released
The US Dept. of Health & Human Services released 3 new Affordable Care Act proposed regulations this week… including: 1) A proposed Rule regarding coverage requirements for pre-existing or chronic conditions; 2) A proposed Rule outlining policies and standards for coverage of essential health benefits; and 3) A proposed Rule implementing and expanding employment-based wellness programs to promote health and [...]
Food Drive Results
This morning St. Mary’s Food Bank picked up 2 ½ tons of canned food to help those in need… courtesy of our Agency food drive. We set a goal of bringing in 4,000 pounds and we made it. When you combine the cans and cash, it equals more than 5,000 pounds of food. Good work to all of you that contributed [...]
Thanksgiving, ASH & the Territorial Cup
Our Arizona State Hospital (ASH) and the U of A share a birthday. Both were established by the 13th Territorial Legislature in 1885. The City of Tucson had wanted ASH (it came with a $100K appropriation) but their delegation got to Prescott (the Territorial Capitol) late because the Salt was flooded… and Tucson ended up getting the U of A [...]