June 23, 2020
The Arizona Public Health Association (AzPHA) staff and Board of Directors thank you for your dedication, passion, and diligence as you work to save lives by slowing the spread of the SARS CoV2 in Arizona.
We see you—the extra hours worked, the weekends spent reviewing data, the countless small tasks you’re tackling that add up to a coordinated effort to stop this virus. Your dedication to the public health includes changing emergency medical service protocols; conducting case investigations and examining infection control in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities; performing contact tracing; collecting and analyzing epidemiological data; developing a surge line and its protocols; preparing crisis standards of care criteria and guidance, and much more.
Arizona’s public health workforce is dedicated to keeping us safe. You make a difference. You are brainstorming creative solutions and making recommendations to improve system effectiveness. Your work is establishing new evidence-based public health policy interventions and pitching them to decision makers in your agency.
As Arizona’s independent voice for public health, the AzPHA is doing our part by encouraging our elected and appointed officials to implement evidence-based public health policy measures that will slow the spread of the virus. At times, this means taking positions on public health policy at odds with those officials.
For example, AzPHA has been publicly advocating for mandatory mask wearing in public indoor spaces, increased testing of staff and improved infection control in long-term care facilities, authority for cities to implement mitigation measures within their own jurisdiction, and mandatory mitigation compliance expectations for businesses.
Our work, along with the advocacy of many other organizations such as AARP, ArMA, AzHHA, and hospital systems was ultimately successful in driving important policy and resource allocation changes, as evidenced by last week’s policy decisions by the governor and local leaders.
The objective of our advocacy work is to enhance the work of Arizona’s public health workforce by persuading elected and appointed officials to make evidence-based policy choices that will help the entire public health system more effectively respond to the pandemic . As an independent voice for public health, we can take policy positions that you may not be able to take because of the nature of your employment.
You can become more involved in our public policy efforts by joining our Public Health Policy Committee which is comprised of members who are committed to improving the health of every Arizonan through engaging our members, partners, policymakers and the public to bring strong public health policies to the forefront.
If you’re interested in participating in that committee you can contact Zaida Dedolph, our Director for Public Health Policy and she can get you set up on our Policy Committee Basecamp.
We know you probably don’t hear this enough, but your work is heroic. Thank you for your continued efforts on behalf of the people of Arizona!
Sincerely,
Arizona Public Health Association Board of Directors and Staff