The 3 Bears
The 3 bears submitted by Fish & Game to our State Lab ended up being negative for the deadly rabies virus. These bears are thought to be connected to the bear attacks, which happened in and around Payson recently. If separate DNA test results that were sent by Fish & Game for testing match the bears we tested to the attacks, [...]
Walking the Balance Beam
One of the balancing acts that folks living with disabilities face is how to navigate employment opportunities and still keep the services that keep them healthy and able to work in the first place. There’s a great new statewide resource that can help folks with disabilities and their families make informed decisions. It’s a web based tool called Disability Benefits [...]
Bear Brains
Some of our Laboratory scientists (Kathryn Fitzpatrick, Alexandra Bhatti, Heather Bickley and Charles Martin) are busy right now testing the brains of the 2 bears that were destroyed over the weekend to see if they had rabies. You might have heard about the bear attacks, which happened in and around Payson recently. On Sunday, a Tempe man was attacked by [...]
Dispatch Interventions
About a year ago Ben Bobrow, MD (our EMS Medical Director) came into my office with a great idea to set up a program to train 911 dispatchers in better ways to coach callers through CPR instructions so callers can do a better job before the paramedics get there. The problem was money. So I sent him over to our chronic disease [...]
M2 Contracts On Deck
We have a couple of new projects in the works to ensure that the dispensary system reflects a medical rather than a recreational system. We’re working with Arizona's pharmacy/poison control systems to put together a contract to provide technical assistance and educational materials to the future dispensary medical directors. We’re also putting together a contract to hire a vendor to [...]
Movin’ on Up
Our Forensic Hospital transition team successfully transferred our forensic patients to the new facility this week. In all, 100 patients in 6 different units were moved into the new forensic hospital this week. Things were smooth because of careful planning and solid execution by nursing, IT, Operations, Campus Support & Safety, Rehab Services, Social Services, Psychology Services, Crothall Housekeeping and Facilities, Morrison Dietary Services and Cardinal [...]