Build Your Inventory of Emergency Response Skills
Maricopa County Department of Public Health’s Office of Preparedness and Response is conducting a full-scale emergency preparedness exercise that will test the strength and completeness of County and City plans during a simulated Anthrax attack. Pre-registered volunteers will drive their cars through the site as simulated medications are dispensed. We anticipate each driver will make several trips through the dispensing lines [...]
Dispensaries in AZ this Summer?
Right now, it looks like a qualified “yes”. As you know from earlier blog posts a the judge has ruled in a state case that had challenged our dispensary applicant selection criteria. We’ve been reviewing our options- and decided yesterday not to appeal the case- which puts us back on track to licensing dispensaries under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. [...]
Inside the Governor’s Budget
Dr. Nelson wrote a great blog this week that discusses the behavioral health aspects of the Governor’s 2012 State of the State Address which was followed by the release of her policy agenda called The Four Cornerstones of Reform: Centennial Edition. Please visit Dr. Nelson’s blog for the details of the Governor’s remarks about behavioral health including information about the FY2013 [...]
Reports, Reports, Reports
Various state laws direct our agency to put together a series of reports every year. Some of the reports are annual, some every 2 years, and some don’t exactly say how often we’re supposed to publish. We list each of the reports on our Agency Reports web page. Curious about what some of them are? Here are a few links [...]
Dispatching Saves Lives
The American Heart Association published a scientific advisory statement this week which underscores the crucial importance 9-1-1 dispatchers can play in the “Chain of Survival” for cardiac arrest. As is often the case- we were ahead of the curve. Long before this new policy statement came out, we began implementing a bold, statewide program aimed at both training dispatchers in [...]
Building the AZ Health Care Workforce: The National Health Service Corps
Our Health Systems Development shop just got a new workforce recruitment and retention grant from the National Health Service Corps to improve the number of healthcare providers that practice where we have shortages (technically called underserved areas). The Corps offers medical, dental, and behavioral health providers the opportunity to repay their student loan debts in exchange for serving Arizona’s underserved [...]