Implementing Our Strategic Plan- Prepare for and Respond to Public Health Emergencies
Over the past several months our Public Health Emergency Preparedness team has been integrating 2 big federal disaster preparedness grants- the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program from the CDC and the Hospital Preparedness Program from HHS. The initiative involves coordinating emergency planning between healthcare facilities, local public health departments, emergency management agencies, tribal partners and a whole slew of other [...]
Our Friend Alan
We learned some sad and shocking news this morning that Alan Oppenheim (our ADHS Acting Assistant Director for Licensing) passed away this weekend. Alan was an excellent leader and manager- but much more importantly- he was a really good person. He always cared about others and asked lots of questions about what was going on. Alan was a team player- [...]
Implementing Our Strategic Plan- Promote Physical Activity & Nutrition
Our Public Health Prevention folks launched an exciting new initiative to improve health outcomes for Arizonans this month called the Arizona Population Health Policy Initiative. This new partnership (with Arizona’s local county health departments) is focused on achieving targeted improvements in health outcomes for Arizonans by advancing evidence-based strategies which address community design, school health, worksite wellness, clinical care, and [...]
5 Reasons to vaccinate your baby
It's always a good idea to periodically look at why you are doing something and see if something might be different -just in case you need to change course. Public health does that with many things - this week, we take a look at infant immunizations and the value they play in protecting the little ones and all of society. [...]
What’s Debilitating?
The voter approved language in the AZ Medical Marijuana Act directs us to periodically accept and evaluate petitions to add new debilitating medical conditions. We’ve made it through the first phase of considering whether to add 4 new debilitating conditions… 1) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; 2) Generalized Anxiety Disorder; 3) Migraines; and 4) Depression. You’ll be able to give us [...]
Infant Mortality- the Presidential Challenge
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that Dr. David Lakey, this year’s President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials has selected the Healthy Babies Project for his national initiative- challenging each state to implement strategies to reduce prematurity and infant mortality based on successful national, regional, and state efforts to improve the health status of babies. [...]