Fit & Fifty
Our Fit and Fifty HealthCheck program encourages and provides resources for uninsured and underinsured folks to get screened for colorectal cancer. The program is funded by the CDC and a special tobacco tax. The program is available in Maricopa, Pima and Coconino and includes access to a fecal occult blood test and colonoscopy. To use the Fit and Fifty HealthCheck [...]
Assisted Living Technical Assistance
Residents in our licensed Assisted Living facilities are supposed to have a “service plan” that identifies their care needs and provides information about how the facility intends to meet those needs. We’ve found that good service plans are crucial in providing quality service, but that facilities sometimes struggle to develop effective plans for all their residents. In an effort to [...]
Medical Marijuana and the Federal law
The U.S. Attorney for Arizona wrote me a letter today about how the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and our rules interface with federal law. As you know, Arizona voters passed the Act last November and ADHS created a program to clearly carry out the voters’ wishes. While we've done what we can to set the stage for a medical marijuana program and not a [...]
Well Woman HealthCheck Program
Age and risk factor appropriate screening for breast and cervical cancer is a key public health intervention that saves countless lives every year, because early detection and treatment for these cancers result in substantially better outcomes. That’s where Arizona’s Well Woman HealthCheck Program comes in… Our Well Woman HealthCheck was established in 1993 as part of the National Breast and [...]
Medical Direction at Dispensaries
An article in the Arizona Republic on Sunday, May 1 included a couple of sentences regarding medical direction at dispensaries that are inaccurate, so I'm writing this to clear it up. The May 1 article suggests that "the presence of an outstanding medical director could be the biggest contributor to an applicant being chosen among competitors to operate a dispensary..." This is not the [...]
Clean Your Medicine Cabinet This Weekend!
Prescription drugs can be safe and effective at treating illnesses and conditions, but they can also be tempting for experimental teens, and misuse and abuse of narcotic prescriptions is a growing and now urgent problem. Powerful prescription drugs are often available and easily accessible in many, if not most, homes and many parents don’t recognize that these (sometimes dangerous) unused [...]