Monument & Wallow Wildfire Responses
The center of gravity for the public health responses to the fires shifted South this week toward the new Monument fire. Early this week folks were allowed to go back to Springerville and Eagar, which meant that it was show-time for Licensing again. We sent a team of surveyors to re-open the licensed facilities that were evacuated last week. All went well and everybody [...]
National Men’s Health Week is Here
Men’s Health Week focuses on male specific diseases such as prostate cancer and men's wellness in general, including mental health issues and accident prevention. Many people think of their fathers this time of year - but men should at least make a commitment to themselves and their families to pay better attention to health and commit to age appropriate screenings.
Behavioral Health Facility Rules Overhaul: Step 1
We kicked off Step 1 of our long-awaited overhaul of the behavioral health facility licensing requirements this week. A new law passed last legislative session charges us with facilitating “licensure of integrated health programs that provide both behavioral and physical health services." The new law tells us to adopt rules relating to construction, equipment, sanitation, staffing for medical, nursing and [...]
Medical Marijuana Lawsuit Filed
Today I was served with a lawsuit that challenges the State (and the Department) for not implementing the dispensary portion of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. The case, filed in the AZ Court of Appeals, asks a judge to order us to follow the rules that we published on April 14 and begin accepting dispensary applications. We worked very hard [...]
Fed’s Release New Plan to Control Prescription Drug Abuse
More than 1,100 Arizonans died from drug poisoning, which is more than the number of Arizonans that die in car accidents every year. This isn’t just an Arizona public health crisis, it’s a national one. Last week the federal government released a new plan to address the national prescription drug abuse epidemic and announced new Federal requirements aimed at educating [...]
Mental Health First Aid
Have you heard about Mental Health First Aid? It’s designed to quickly help folks with a behavioral health need. It’s a lot like CPR or other forms of first aid for physical health conditions in that anyone can learn and apply the concepts soon after going through the short certification training. Mental Health First Aid prepares folks to respond and [...]