(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 [...]
New Cigarette Warning Labels launched today
Today the FDA released the new, graphic warning labels that will be on cigarette packs. The labels educate smokers and others, including kids, about the dangers of tobacco use and encourage smokers to quit. Using this proven techique, the U.S. joins 43 other countries that already require pictures or images on cigarette packs. The warning labels encourage smokers to try to [...]
National Public Health Prevention Plan Released
The national Public Health Prevention Plan was released last week, with a clear emphasis on the critical contributors to health. The 4 broad strategic directions for the plan are: Building healthy and safe community environments, Expanding quality preventive services in both clinical and community settings, Empowering people to make healthy choices, and Eliminating health disparities. This groundbreaking plan emphasizes a Public [...]
Sir, You are Served
There’ve been 3 lawsuits filed against the Department in the last few days. On June 10th, the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission filed suit against the state (including me) to stop the enactment of the portion of SB1615, which transfers the Commission to ADHS next month. We have someone from the Attorney General’s office working on this case. We expect there [...]