public health

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Clinicians now have an easy, accessible ADHS website

By | January 19th, 2017|General|

One of public health’s major partnerships is with practicing clinicians. In any threat to the public’s health – be it environmental, nuclear, infectious, chronic or substance-related – clinicians work with health departments to recognize and respond appropriately. Now it is easier than ever for them to find public health resources and guidelines in Arizona. On [...]

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Public Health Works Behind the Scenes to Make Our Communities Healthy

By | March 3rd, 2016|General|

When I was younger, my grandmother gave me two books, and I don’t think she realized they ended up shaping my career. After reading Outbreak (by Robin Cook) and Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC (by Joseph McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch), I was hooked on working in public health. After learning more about what [...]

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Viral Hepatitis Summit in Phoenix

By | September 23rd, 2015|Preparedness|

On September 17 we held the first ever Viral Hepatitis Summit sponsored by Hepatitis Foundation International (HFI). There were 85 healthcare personnel and public health professionals in attendance, including physicians, social workers, nurses and pharmacists from all over Arizona. Some of the topics included adhering to hepatitis B and C testing guidelines, accessing treatment for hepatitis C, and [...]

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Arizona State Hospital Updates

By | July 23rd, 2015|Behavioral Health|

Our state hospital team has really been working hard over the past few months! In May of 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services completed an inspection of the hospital and provided us with a report of their findings. With a new leadership team in place, they've been busy putting together a plan of action to address and [...]

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Changes in Screening and Monitoring of Travelers Returning from Liberia

By | June 26th, 2015|Preparedness|

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia on May 9, 2015, when 42 days (two incubation periods) passed since the last Ebola patient was buried. However, the WHO recommended that Liberia maintain heightened surveillance for another 90 days (until August 7, 2015). This led to changes, that began [...]

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Wildfire Season Kicks Off

By | May 23rd, 2014|Licensing, Preparedness|

The first big fire of the season started this week in Oak Creek Canyon- called the Slide fire.  Smoke is usually the first public health impact from wildland fires.  The air quality in Flagstaff and Sedona has been generally OK- but poor at times depending on the winds (smoke levels in Sedona have been high [...]

Are E-cigarettes an Important Tool in the Tobacco Fight?

By | May 21st, 2014|Prevention|

There’s no substitute for evidence when it comes to public health decision-making.  Over the last couple of years the public health community has been asking itself whether electronic cigarettes can play an important role in getting folks to kick their tobacco habit.  We haven’t had much evidence to answer that question so far… but a [...]

Federal Funds for Arizona Public Health

By | May 13th, 2014|General, Preparedness, Prevention|

We use a lot of CDC grants  in Arizona to promote public health.  I’ve talked about what we do with the Maternal and Child Health, as well as the Behavioral Health, grants in previous blogs.  There’s another grant that lets us focus on issues that are specifically tailored to Arizona.  The Preventive Health block grant helps fund our [...]

Medicare Cost Transparency

By | April 9th, 2014|Prevention|

I’ve always believed that transparency improves the efficiency of any system.  Health care costs are no exception- and health care reimbursement costs are probably at the top of the list of systems that could be improved by applying a healthy dose of cost transparency. Today the federal government took a giant step forward when they [...]

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