AZ is Public Health Ready
The results are in, and 14 of Arizona’s 15 county local health departments will be recognized through the Project Public health Ready recognition program. Coconino County led the way and was the first AZ local health department to receive recognition. When we saw how well the program worked in Coconino County, the counties and our preparedness team decided to make [...]
Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan Lowering Premiums July 1
Some of the folks that we serve in our diverse mission have complicated medical conditions and may have had trouble in the past finding health insurance because of a pre-existing health problem. The federal Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) may be able to help some of these folks, especially since the premiums for the Plan will drop by 40% in Arizona beginning July 1. [...]
Empower Program Stepping it Up- Nationally
This is a story about making great-tasting sugar free lemonade from lemons. About a year and a half ago the legislature passed a bill that eliminated our general funds for licensing (nursing homes, assisted living, hospitals, behavioral health, child care etc.). In exchange, the Bill included a provision that gave us “exempt” rulemaking authority to collect fees to run our licensing [...]
(Fires)3
We've been operating on several fronts all week for the Monument Fire. Licensing made sure that facilities in the area had executable evacuation plans and knew who to contact if they needed to evacuate. They also made sure that the facilities that remained open had enough staff. Fifteen facilities relocated patients and residents this week. Most are ready to go back, and our licensing team has 8 reopening inspections scheduled for tomorrow. Behavioral Health [...]
Healthy Living = Improved Life Expectancy
Everybody knows that people in different parts of the country behave differently when it comes to smoking and physical activity, but does it impact how long they live? The answer is yes. According to fascinating study, Americans are living longer, but not in every part of the country. In fact, in some areas, life expectancy has actually fallen mostly because [...]
Hospital Leadership
We’re delighted that Cory Nelson has agreed to share his talents with us as our new Arizona State Hospital CEO. Cory has been serving for the last ten years as the CEO at the South Dakota Human Services Center in Yankton, SD where he runs a 304-bed state psychiatric facility. He has a great reputation in the field and currently [...]