Every year, our Bureau of Medical Facilities Licensing partners with stakeholders to provide a daylong educational session for end-stage renal dialysis (ESRD) providers in Arizona. This year marked the sixth year of our ADVICE (Arizona Developing Value Through Innovation and Communication with ESRD Providers) Collaborative held on June 21, 2018. This year’s theme was centered on patient engagement. Approximately 211 [...]
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) launched the first Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) in March 2016. The purpose of the AzHIP is to describe how ADHS and community partners work together to improve the health and wellness of Arizonans. The AzHIP highlights 17 comprehensive health issues that the state hopes to improve by the Plan’s [...]
Going to a farmers market with your family can be great fun! Join with me in celebrating National Farmers Market Week. Worried about the heat? Some markets have moved indoors for the summer and others have early hours. Use AZ Health Zone's fantastic map to find a market near your home. You can narrow your [...]
The 2017 Arizona Opioid Emergency Response Report is out today, and while significant progress has been made, there is still work to do towards reducing opioid deaths in Arizona. This report highlights the emergency response actions taken over the past year since Governor Ducey issued his public health emergency declaration in response to the data [...]
Over the past month, there has been a lot of news around unaccompanied minors and migrant children receiving care in in Arizona. ADHS is responsible for licensing health care institutions and child care facilities in Arizona and is committed to ensuring children are in a safe and nurturing environment. In fact, the health and safety [...]
Breastfeeding is a foundation of a healthy life. For the past 27 years, the first week of August has been declared World Breastfeeding Week. Breastfeeding helps to prevent malnutrition, ensures food security for infants and young children, and helps to bring people out of the hunger and poverty cycle. Breastfeeding is one of the most [...]
For the second year in a row, exemption rates, the percentage of students exempt from one or more vaccines, increased across all age categories. In the last year, exemptions rose from 3.9% to 4.3% for child care, from 4.9% to 5.4% for kindergarten, and from 5.1% to 5.4% for 6th grade. This increase in exemption rates led [...]
Diabetes is a serious health condition attributing to nearly 14,000 Arizona emergency department visits and 11,000 local hospital admissions in 2016. Diabetes, the sixth leading disease-related cause of death in Arizona, is also a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to significant disability including blindness, kidney failure and amputation. In [...]
Governor Doug Ducey has officially ended the formal emergency public health declaration he issued last year that directed our department to lead a statewide response to the opioid epidemic. We have made tremendous strides, but the work we started last June is far from complete. The list of accomplishments over this last year is long [...]
Memorial Day signals the start of summer break for many kids in Arizona as well as triple digit temperatures. Many people are preparing for upcoming outdoor activities with friends and family. While enjoying the holiday grilling or relaxing by the pool, it is important to remember safety tips to protect yourself from the Arizona heat and sun. Despite heat-related illnesses being [...]
